


Sinful Heroes

by Alethia_II



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel 3490, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: 3 am writing, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Don't Like Don't Read, F/F, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Genderswap, M/M, Multi, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-28 02:17:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8427127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alethia_II/pseuds/Alethia_II
Summary: “Black ankle suit pants, white shirt and red Louboutin pumps. Are you becoming CEO of Stark Industries or Murder Inc.?”“Considering what I have found out about most of the board members in the last month, it feels like Murder Inc.” Since Howard was so kind to leave his company to her, she would run it as she saw fit. And Natasha Stark did not, at all, appreciate the stale, underhanded buffet of characters offered by the board of directors.“This is not really up to discussion. I have the controlling interest in the company; it is called Stark Industries for a reason.





	1. Chapter 1

She had been at it for twenty hours straight and she was rather tired even if she spent twelve out of twenty relaxing in every possible way. Like most things in her still short lifespan, because eighteen years old was not what one would call stocked with life experience, this event she was also going through alone but this time it was by her choice. “Congratulations Miss Stark. You have a beautiful daughter.”

She was pretty sure her left side of the neck would have distinct soreness when her body finally relaxed a bit from labor but she temporarily pushed down all her energy depletion and soon to be realized hormone induced emotional rollercoaster she learned about through various sources, focusing instead on the nineteen and a half inches long, ivory color blanket wrapped human being she knew was her daughter for several months now. Her hands were only tiny bit shaky when doctor Shannon Oltran passed the baby to her. “Hello Elaine.” She murmured softly, bit out of breath.

“Is that her name?” A nurse, she believed her name was Cora, asked quietly as she scribbled other important medical information about both mother and the newborn girl on the chart. “Yes. How did she do?”

“8/10 but we will do another one in couple of minutes to see how she is doing outside the womb.” Doctor Oltran stated. “And you still have placenta to deliver.”

“You are a slave driver.”

“No honey, I am just reminding you that the biological process of birth isn’t done yet.”

“I still say you’re a slave driver.” She muttered with no real zest behind it, mostly tittering on the humor side which in turn made the medical staff around her smile. “Uh…”

“What?”

“Why do I feel chills?”

“Placenta is coming out. Steady breath and small push will do it.” Doing as instructed, she definitely felt something slide out of her, much quicker than Elaine did but she wasn’t sure she either had the energy or the will to look.

Curious mind or not, she had limits. And she was more than content to stare down at her daughter. An hour and a half later, she was moved to post-partum private suite, not that she noticed. The exhaustion and general soreness finally claimed the toll, sending her into deep state of sleep which lasted well into the morning before she was woken up for a checkup and feeding.

Annoying as she found it, her mind after long resting period  was yet again teeming with ideas and calculations, fingers itching to get into the lab and start working again. However, she knew there was a little human being completely dependent on her and there were two things she promised herself when she found out that her wild, unending string of alcohol/drug pumped parties with one or sometimes couple of partners resulted in a pregnancy. One, alcohol and drug abuse would stop as it tied in to the number two. She would not at any cost become Howard Stark because that simply was not an option.  She was not yet sure on all the ‘hows’ because frankly her attention span was not the greatest one though the professor had pointed out already it was more because she did not have the benefit of idle mind rather than personal choice of not paying attention.

She could remember crystal clear how Howard looked at her when she told her parents she was pregnant. Her mother wasn’t really sure what to say, unwilling to truly pick a side which was the only thing she had always resented her for and her father, the great Howard Stark, looked disappointed as if the baby she decided to keep would be huge obstacle she could not deal with. Admittedly, the only true friends she could securely place her trust in were James Rhodes, who was currently doing his yearlong undergraduate pilot training and Shani Aven, spunky girl of eighteen whose father was a business colleague of Howard’s and was one of rare people who could beat her down in place, not taking her bullshit; but she could work to become more social.

As in a reliable adult. It would take whole lot of time; she didn’t do well with fools and wallet lickers who constituted almost hundred percent of the company Howard had around him and sometimes tried to force her into but she could try. She had to.

***

“You are unbelievably quiet and if the doctors didn’t tell me you were perfectly fine, I would be panicking right now.” Baby blue eyes stared at her without any definitive emotional expression, after all Elaine was barely twelve hours old and therefore incapable of demonstrating specific emotions. “So this is how it is going to be huh? You are just going to stare and babble your baby talk whilst I try to decode what it is? Not cool.”

“She is not software that needs to be cracked silly.” The amused tone of a female voice had her head turning to the door at her right side; she smiled upon seeing her friend standing there with eagerness to meet the newest Stark family member. “Congratulations.”

Shani did not bring flowers or teddy bears for which she was grateful as she found those two things to be nuisances and of no use to a woman recovering from birth although she suspected she would find several flower arrangements all around her living area when she returned home. “Thank you. Shani, I want you to meet Elaine Stark.”

“Elaine?”

“Yeah. Something wrong?”

Shani shrugged. “Nah, just a bit surprised that’s all. You Starks have a habit of passing down names.”

“Well I liked Elaine and was definitely not going to name her Maria. She doesn’t deserve that.”

Her friend simply nodded before speaking again. “May I?”

“Sure, just mind her head and neck.”

“I know.” The brown haired young woman murmured before carefully taking Elaine into her hold. “Hello there. I’m your godmother and I retain my right to spoil you.”

That evoked quiet laughter. “I think Rhodey will fight you for it when he finally meets her.”

“Damn straight he will.”

“Tasha, she is perfect.”

“I know.” The only other person she wished would be here to share her sliver of joy with was Edwin Jarvis. And the fact that he couldn’t just made her heart ache in familiar way as it always did for the last three years since he died.

She wasn’t sure how exactly he would have reacted to the slew of partying that aside from river of tabloid pictures and articles resulted in her pregnancy but she knew he would have wholly approved of her deciding to step up to take  responsibility for her actions. And then would have made sure the apartment she bought was completely baby proof and stocked to the ceiling with every possible thing she would need.

Now she had to do all of that on her own. Granted, Shani already made sure that the baby dresser was full with baby clothes up to year one but everything else was on Natasha. And she was always up to the challenge. She was Natasha Stark after all, and if she could emerge victorious from wading through misogynist, condescending swamp that was engineering department of MIT with two PhDs while setting new fashion standards and doing variety of things she was not particularly proud off then she could damn well be a mother on top of being world class engineer and future business woman. It’s always been said that women were far better at multitasking than men.

***

Elaine had been five going six months old when she started sleeping through the night. Though most parents would feel somewhat relieved at the returned ability to get a lengthy shut eye, Tasha did not feel much of a difference. But then again she realized that her freakish sleep patterns she developed while she was still in boarding school were much like newborn’s. However where newborns actually slept fifteen-sixteen hours a day and wake every three or so hours for feeding, Tasha could have three to four hours of sleep and function without sleep the next seventy two hours. Of course, purposeful sleep deprivation was not beneficial for either Tasha or Elaine so she tried to adjust which in the beginning was frustrating.

There were so many things she wanted to do, to just sit down at her work bench and let her mind take over, to create or fix something but she knew she couldn’t because she would easily lose herself in work. The frustration brought her to tears several times. It was during one of those little meltdowns as she liked to label them did she return to something she could do while caring for Elaine and something she had put on a proverbial ice couple of years back. The development of artificial intelligence required certain finesse and caution she lacked when she was drunk of her ass. Last thing she and the world needed was Skynet coming to life by accident.

It was bit tricky at first because every once in a while her gaze would just slip from the screen to Elaine  who was napping,  rolling around or playing with her stacking rings or blocks just to make sure she was still breathing even though it was almost impossible to tune out the joyous babbling she was sure any day would become something more than that.

Their little zen in sun lit living room was interrupted by sharp knock on the front door. This made her frown a bit albeit Tasha knew that security would not have just let anyone up to her penthouse. The frown melted off when she saw Elaine’s adorable attempt to glare at the front door which was the source the sudden sound that made her knock over the stacking rings. “You’ll put them right again.” After opening the door, she blinked several times fast whilst her brain absorbed the familiar appearance of James Rhodes in front of her.

“Oh, man, brain freeze. I used to get a lot of those while we were at MIT.”

“Rhodey bear!” She pulled him in a hug he returned with equal eagerness. “What are you doing here? Are you even allowed to leave?”

“Whoa, slow down, Speedy. Yes, I am allowed and I wanted to finally meet my goddaughter. I also know how lazy you are to cook, Elaine’s food aside, so I brought lunch as well.” He lifted two brown bags. “Frank’s?”

“The whole deal.” Rhodey smiled and zeroed in on Elaine whose head was tilted to the left, watching him with all the curiosity and wariness of the world. “Well, I’ll be damned. Six months old and already judging.”

“Nah, you’re just new. Go slow and she’ll warm up to you.”

Nodding his head, Rhodey put away his bag after retrieving quite realistic looking plush falcon and slowly made his way to the arm chair close to Elaine’s playing area. The infant girl studied his every move though her excitement at seeing the stuffed animal in hands was more than noticeable. “Hello Elaine.” Rhodey spoke. “I’m happy to meet you at last. I’m your godfather.”

In return she simply stared at him before letting a quick stream of non understandable babble. “I’m hopeful she’ll start connecting the babble into something bit more intelligible. Maybe even some familiar word.”

“Don’t go enrolling her into MIT just yet.” Rhodey shook his head. “Oh, you want this?” His attention moved to Elaine again who was making grabby hands at the stuffed falcon. “She crawling yet?”

“Tried couple of days ago but for now she’s still rolling around.” Tasha replied, carefully opening  takeout boxes Rhodey brought. “But she can sit up, loves her stacking rings and has expressed great interest in slapping the food off the spoon when I feed her.”

“So she’s totally like you?” He couldn’t help but to tease, not missing that for the first time in a long time his best friend looked absolutely content and happy. Two things he could never quite put in the same sentence with Natasha Stark. He was snapped out of his thought process by slight sound of frustration coming from Elaine and finally handed her the toy which she started to thoroughly inspect. “Yup, just like you. Please tell me you did not make her miniaturized tools already?”

“Why Rhodey bear? Afraid she’ll try to open you up and see what makes you tick?”

“No, don’t do that. You say things like that and I end up with really bizarre dreams. At best.”

“Oh come on, live a little.”

“I live plenty.” Rhodey stated, his eyes never leaving Elaine to make sure he remembered her perfectly before he had to leave again. “No food for baby genius here?”

Tasha shook her head, setting the plates down on the coffee table. “First of all, there is nothing to indicate she’s a genius like me yet and we had food fest an hour ago.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a genius, you know.”

“Oh, I know. Yet I’d rather she’s just very smart and being able to sleep normal hours. And generally not be just like me.”

“Tasha…”

“I know, I know.” She took a bite of her chicken. “So remember that time couple years back when we agreed that me making an A.I. while drunk is not a good idea?”

Rhodey simply blinked before resisting the urge to plant his face in his plate.  Honestly, just why did he think that his visit to Tasha would go without special side of crazy?

“What did you do?”

Her red lips stretched in mischievous smile. “Nothing…yet.”

***

The funeral of Howard and Maria Stark was attended in Natasha Stark’s opinion by far too many people. None of them truly knew her parents. She was certain that there were only select few that truly knew them or at the very least, some sides of them. Her life had been a public show since she was a baby and as such, she knew how to fake feelings very well. There were even few stray tears on her face as the funeral proceeded.

When she was told of her parents’ deaths she expected to feel something. One was supposed to feel grief. At best she felt sadness at not trying to mend fences with them, if for not for herself then for Elaine’s benefit. However, her father’s indifference with anything that wasn’t related to work in some manner and her mother’s ambivalence and lukewarm affection for her grandchild made Natasha’s blood boil more often than not.

Obadiah Stane stood to her left, looking picture perfect of the man grieving for his friend but he was making her skin crawl. The times she did see him around the mansion, he would always have sort of a calculating gaze set on her that she could not decipher but at the time she did not care. And more than likely would not have to care if certain rumors circulating around Stark Industries upper levels were anything to go by. Though she already felt weary from the funeral, she steeled herself mentally for the will reading that was to be done at the mansion.

Leonel Bohman, the executor of her parents’ joint will, offered to have the reading at some later date but she refused, wanting to get over it as soon as possible. She didn’t even understand why there was a reading of the will because this was 21st century for heaven’s sake and there was no state law that that required it but apparently they wanted it so Natasha was going to have to listen to it. Pointless really as she had no expectations other than getting all the money. Her cousin, Morgan Stark, who was the walking, breathing embodiment of privileged, white male stereotype to a damn T and made her cringe by simply smiling would inherit Stark Industries because really, a young female engineer had no business in weapon’s manufacturing. Soft heart and all the other typical crap she was dulled to by now.

The mansion still looked as pointlessly empty as it did when she lived there as a child and for now it was in tip top shape, the minimum staff wandering around aimlessly. The hall to Howard’s study was littered with expensive paintings and several portraits of ‘happy’ Stark family and the study itself had lingering smell of cigars and alcohol though it was evident that it had been aired frequently. Mr. Bohman and Morgan were already waiting for her, the lawyer looking as serious as ever while Morgan looked torn between smugness and wanting to be anywhere but there.

“Miss Stark.”

“Mr. Bohman, good day.” Tasha greeted, sitting down in the empty armchair across the desk. “Is there a particular reason we are having a reading of the will?”

“Your parents did not specify a reason but it was their wish.”

“Very well. I assume there is not much of it so if we could get on with it? I have a one year old daughter to go back to.”

Mr. Bohman nodded, casting a guarded glance in her opinion at Morgan before looking down at the papers he held in his hands. “I will cut through the formalities and get right to the point. All of Mrs. Stark’s physical possessions and assets have been left to Natasha Stark with express instruction of keeping Maria Stark Foundation running. Mr. Stark’s physical possessions and assets have been left to Natasha Stark. This includes the controlling interest in Stark Industries.”

“What?!” Morgan was on his feet, angered disbelief clear on his face the moment his pitiful brain registered what was said. “A testamentary trust fund had been created for Morgan Stark. That is the essence of Mr. and Mrs. Stark’s will.”

While Morgan spluttered before stomping out with a pout like a five year old, Tasha sat in total silence, processing what she was told. She had been left everything. Money and knick-knacks she expected, even the villa in Italy but the rest? That was a complete surprise. And now she would have to rework everything she planned to do, including founding a company of her own.

Even from the grave, Howard had to have the last word like he did in life. If she were not as stunned as she was, she would be laughing. As it was, she quietly got up, took her copy of the will and shook hands with Mr. Bohman before making a hasty exit out of the mansion. “How did it go?” It was the first question Shani asked the moment Tasha called her.

“He left me the company.”

“Howard?”

“Yes.”

“And how do you fell about this?”

Tasha snorted. “Like I want to drink.”

“Tasha no. What you will do is get in the car that’s waiting for you, go straight to the airport and board the plane. You will have coffee and something to eat; and when you come back here you will say hello to Elaine, feed her, put her to sleep and then sleep on all this yourself. And tomorrow you’ll be your awesome self again and figure out how this works for you.”

“Why are you my friend?”

“Why are you mine?”

“Fair enough. I’ll see you in several hours.”

“Good. Safe flight.” Tasha climbed in the back of the car and asked to be taken directly to the airport. She had been away from her home in Malibu for way too long. And she missed Elaine greatly.

***

“You look pretty.” Not yet colored lips stretched into a smile. An honest, true smile only three people in her life were privileged to see. And one of them was staring at her right now, innocent blue eyes studying her every muscle twitch and quite contently sifting through numerous toys of great variety strewn across the king sized bed. “Why thank you Miss Stark, you don’t look bad yourself.”

“Are we going to the fireworks tonight?”

“Yes Elaine, we are going to the fireworks tonight.”

“But you have to go now?” Tasha sighed, the kid was four months shy of fourth birthday and she already knew all the party tricks that got her extra candy or pizza slice. Not that she could blame her, Tasha being the good mother that she was, when she wasn’t holed up in her workshop or making her every two months party appearance for public sake to let them know she was still alive, taught Elaine every puppy look or pout she might need to wheedle things out of Shani or Rhodey.

“It is a big day. At least that is what every scrap of news calls it. I call it tiresome.”

“Are you strangling your daughter with your business comments again?” Tasha smirked, seeing Shani’s reflection in the mirror. “She’s only four.”

“I built my first circuit board when I was four, Shani. And Elaine seemed to have gotten activation code for the smart gene. She may not be my level of crazy genius but she is definitely ahead of the rest of her peers.”

“Fine, you’ve got me there but seriously…Stop dissing people you have not even met yet in front of your daughter.” Shani plumped down on the bed rather ungracefully, eliciting laughter from Elaine much to her satisfaction. “Choppy lob, nice one. You got outfit picked out? You leave in half an hour.”

“You sure you can look after her ‘til five?”

“For umpteenth time, yes, Tasha I always have time to watch over Elaine. Stop fretting, put some stain on and get into your clothes already.”

Tasha rolled her eyes. “Yes ma’am.” Picking up the thin brush, she applied blood red lip stain confidently and checked the minimum make up get up she had going before she sauntered off to her walk-in closet to dress. One thing she was certain in was the fact she was not going to wear skirt or dress no matter how sexy yet professional some of the items looked hanging in her closet.

The smile she sported when she tip toed out of the closet had her best friend eyeing Tasha cautiously yet approvingly. “Black ankle suit pants, white shirt and red Louboutin pumps. Are you becoming CEO of Stark Industries or Murder Inc.?”

“Considering what I have found out about most of the board members in the last month, it feels like Murder Inc.” Since Howard was so kind to leave his company to her, she would run it as she saw fit. And Natasha Stark did not, at all, appreciate the stale, underhanded buffet of characters offered by the board of directors.

“You still intend to-?”

“Yes Shani. I told you why.”

“I didn’t say I oppose or anything. I just want to know that you are sure of this.”

Tasha’s nimble fingers easily clasped thin silver chain around her neck, carrying small raw emerald as a pendant before she finally felt ready to go. “Right, let’s get this parody show on the road. Don’t make a mess out of the house.” She instructed, kissing Elaine goodbye and picking her briefcase up on her way out.

“No more than you usually do!” Shani yelled after her before turning to her playful goddaughter. “Who wants to eat pizza and design new clothes?”

“Me!” Elaine shouted with all the eagerness four year old could muster before taking her godmother’s hand to follow.

Maybe her day without her mother wouldn’t be so bad after all. And whilst two of them were generally doing whatever they wanted, Tasha was mentally preparing herself for the shitstorm she was about to set off. But it had to be done. “You alright Miss? You’re gonna turn your wrist blue if you keep wringing it like that.”

Tasha smiled lightly, already practicing her public smile that held absolutely no sincerity in her head, pale blue eyes looking up to see partial reflection of Happy’s face. He was a man in his early thirties, former boxer and her chauffer/bodyguard for the last four years. She would not define their relationship as friends, more to the likes of good acquaintance and mutual quiet respect. And it worked pretty well so far. “Considering I am about to take over Howard’s company and have very brain stiffening, gruelingly boring discussion that will leave just about every board member in a foul, grumbling mood; I am surprised I have not already turned it blue.”

“Oh? You plan on killing someone?”

“No.” Tasha titled her head. “You know, Shani just asked me if I am becoming CEO of Murder Inc. before I left. It’s frightening how you think alike.”

“It’s the determined look in your eyes miss.”

“Oh. Well, I do not intend to commit a murder. Physical that is. I might murder their wallets and fire some of them.”

“Really? That’s…odd.”

“No it isn’t. Problem with functioning brain like mine is that you rarely forget something you read. And what I have read over the last month was more than enough to make me want to be done with the entire board. Two of them are stealing from the company.”

“That is a serious breach. Shouldn’t you get police involved?”

“Well, they have not actually stolen much considering that SI is a multi-billion dollar company and seven million dollars look like a change in their eyes but it is a matter of principle. And I don’t care if Stane just plain missed it or ignored it but I won’t tolerate such behavior.” Happy merely nodded, making Tasha conclude she earned a tiny bit of his respect and oddly enough this tidbit satisfied her immensely.

Metallic black X5 rolled up to the entrance with Happy quickly going to the other side once the car stopped to let Tasha out. “You can wait for me in the car if you like or get yourself some coffee. It won’t take long, half an hour maybe.”

“Are you sure?”

“Gotta stand on my own two feet sometimes Happy.” Tasha smiled. “I got this.”

“Very well. But if you do not come back in half an hour, I am checking up on you.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less. Get yourself some coffee man.” With that, she walked into the belly of the beast bravely, squaring her shoulders and gripping the briefcase maybe a bit too tight.

“Good day Miss Stark.” An overly blonde secretary greeted her, already pushing Tasha’s mouth restraint. “The board is ready for you.”

“Of course they are.” Tasha muttered under her breath, walking slowly behind the blonde through small maze of corridors before they reached the desire destination.

The moment the door opened and twelve heads turned towards her, Tasha knew she was going to have her nerves tested to the breaking point. When CEO walked into a conference room, it was usually polite for every other board member to stand up. They however, just stared at her with their calculated, greedy eyes, judging her every step. Deciding to throw in her dose of arrogance, Tasha decided to dispose of niceties since it was apparent that she would get none in return. “Ah, good you are all here.”

“Tasha!” Stane greeted her in way too enthusiastic manner, not to mention it did not slip past her the way his eyes had a steely glint to them before he masked it away. “You’re late.”

“By two minutes and thirty seven seconds Obie. I would call it a miracle.”

“Of course you would. We just went over all the papers you signed yesterday.”

“Excellent, less time wasting on signatures. Really people, we are two feet into digital era and trees grow very slow. Time to embrace the future.”

“Continue.” Tasha eyed the woman with a cold tone that would have one wondering if she was some sort of serial killer in her free time before she spoke again. “I have reviewed all the contracts made in the last fifteen years, from fulfilled to yet to be signed and I have to ask. What the hell? Since Howard died, and before that there has been no serious advancement in any field but how to pack a stronger load into rifles and missiles and every other type of armament. We are not arms dealers and the world sure as hell is not about weapons alone. America on the other hands seems to be obsessed with guns and every idiot with first and last name can get their hands on it. Have you seen where the money is shifting to people?

Phones, computers, internet, space exploration, bioengineering, nanotechnology…Most of this stuff has already been fantasized enough and in some areas significant albeit slow progress has been made whilst you only came up with ways on how to kill as much people as possible. Even cavemen eventually realized they couldn’t spend their days killing each other. Will someone explain to me why no one has thought of putting some effort behind music players or phones or anything else for that matter?” Her rant came to a stop, eyes sweeping the room and finding the utter disbelief in their eyes. “Anyone?”

“Miss Stark, we realize that as a young engineer you have abundance of ideas and they are more than likely viably profitable but your father did not found this company on music players.” A man in his late fifties she recognized from picture in her folder as Robin Wade.

She sat up even straighter, entwined her fingers that rested on the table top before speaking again. “Mr. Wade.” Tasha was pleased to see some of them flinched at her iciness and Stane’s eyes narrowed in cautious calculation, as if trying to figure out if he should step in or not.

“The only time you could have referred to me as young engineer was between ages five and ten. Howard Stark founded this company during the World War II so his development preference was weapons for more-less sound logical reason. World War II and Cold War are over people and in case you haven’t noticed, majority of world population is sick and tired of wars, not to mention terrorists these days are popping up like earthworms because governments, mainly ours tries to act like world police and muck things up, leaving chaos after them. I was left a legacy of blood, death and destruction. Did you know that after he died, I was passed down an unofficial title ‘Merchant of Death’ Howard has been graced with? I have no interest in holding that title. I don’t know what person would enjoy having it. There are seven different defense contracts you have signed but not discussed or in any way asked for my opinion about; and two of them are renewable. Change obviously cannot happen over the night; well it actually could at least in my head but anyway….Over the next few years, the weaponry research and manufacturing division will be shut down and the resources, both human and monetary, will be redistributed to other divisions you have let slide in the dark on the margins.”

She was cut off as the board erupted in protesting angry exclamations, somewhere along the lines of scolding and chastisement like she was some wayward child in need of discipline though in thorough honesty maybe she did. A bit anyway. Stane still said nothing but his mask slipped off and he was openly glaring at her whilst she noted with interest that Mrs. Evelyn Goodwin the CFO and Mr. Blake Reese the CAO were not only silent but also studying her with plainly plastered interest, she could practically see their cogs turning in their heads. This was somewhat expected based on what she read on them. Felling a headache coming up she slammed her fist on the table, making it shake a bit and was followed by sharp yell of ‘Silence’ which brought the onslaught of not so very flattering words to a stop.

“This is not really up to discussion. I have the controlling interest in the company; it is called Stark Industries for a reason. You can either go along with this and have even more money than your greedy minds have ever managed to fantasize about or I will buy you out right here and now. I did not say we will just drop the division tomorrow because that is a financial suicide, sort of, but it will go. Seven contracts will be fulfilled and that will be the end of the story. So, any sellers?” Tasha’s question was met with astonished and still somewhat angry silence before someone actually managed to find words to speak.

“I will not sit here and watch you destroy everything your father has built for sixty years.” Mr. Lane announced angrily, his face redder than her lipstick. “To hell with you and your genius.”

“Excellent, than shares on the table. Oh, and find yourself a good lawyer Mr. Lane, you will need him. Both you and your equally incensed friend sitting next to you, Mr. Parsons, will need them.”

“What the hell are you talking about girl?”

Calmly, she opened her briefcase and retrieved one of several thick manila folders, opening it on the first marked page. “I am talking about seven million two hundred and eighty six thousand dollars you have extracted from this company to your accounts you thought were hidden enough in the last two years.” The redness was exchanged quickly for pallor as everyone turned to stare at two named board members. “You used a quite clever way to extract money, I will give you that, but I also concluded you dared to do that only after Howard died because he too would have found it almost immediately upon reviewing the financial flow in and out of the company. Now I don’t know if this wasn’t detected because of incompetence or you two were just that good but I will not stand for it. I will buy your shares and then, after court proceedings, I will make sure that the money you stole is retrieved and put into Maria Stark Foundation. With interests. Anyone else or perhaps any questions?”

There was collective shaking of heads and quiet ‘no’ all around. “Mr. Reese.”

“Yes ma’am?”

“Ma’am was my mother. I am Miss. I would like detailed analysis of our company’s activities and research of the current market trends with estimate for further five years. Also, both you and Mrs. Goodwin should inform your divisions that I will give detailed presentation of the music player I have developed, both hardware and software along with Stark operating system next week.”

“Understood.”

“Does anyone have any suggestions for the table?”

Silence gave her ‘no’ for an answer. “Very well then I call the meeting to an end. I will see you all in a month.” This was a queue for everyone to file out as quickly as possible, more than likely to vent their cut off frustrations within the confines of their offices or in case of two thieves, sweating profusely, tugging on their ties and frantically calling their lawyers.

She packed the folder back into the briefcase, casually observing that Obadiah was still in his seat, glaring at her so hard she half expected he would start shooting lasers from them. “You look like you are about to have a coronary Obadiah.”

“I sure as hell hope you know what you are doing.”

“Always Obadiah. I am a Stark after all. And smarter one at that.”

“And more arrogant.”

“Well yes, arrogance usually goes hand in hand with brilliance. Don’t worry Obie, I have no intention of ruining your reputation or taking away the respect you built up in the last two years. But now it's time for me to do things as I want. I know what I'm doing.”

Stane eyed her for a good while before smiling again and God, she found the smile very disturbing. Not that she would voice that anyway. Howard trusted him to run the company and seeing as it wasn’t ruined; she decided to give him a little leeway and benefit of a doubt. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Right then. If you excuse me, I have to check in with Happy, get some lunch and settle in my office.” With nothing left to say, she nodded her head in goodbye gesture before marching out.

“That went well.”


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Tasha was aware of when her mind swam back to the world of consciousness was immeasurable pain bursting from her chest. There was a metallic taste of blood in her mouth along with something she suspected were vague traces of chloroform and dryness that meant she had been out for a very long time. Yanking out the canula and ripping off the bandages probably wasn’t the best idea but at the moment she was shocked, hazy and in a lot of pain. Good sense was not at the top of her list. “Ah, you’re awake. I was beginning to wonder if you ever would or if you would just slip away.”

Looking up, she saw a man in his late forties maybe early fifties with a face she could have sworn she had seen before. He was clean, relatively so, wearing somewhat tattered suit. It was clear to her, that wherever she was, he was not free nor was she. Her hands were shaking when she reached for the glass of water and barely managed to drink it without spilling. “You look familiar.”

The man’s eyes widened with slight surprise and amusement. “We have met before Stark. At the technical conference in Bern though I must admit I am surprised you remember. If I had been that drunk, I wouldn’t be able to stand, much less give a lecture on integrated circuits.”

“That was ’99 right?” He nodded. “Been sober for over two years at that point. But I do know how to act drunk, very persuasively.”

“Indeed.”

She looked at the reflection of her chest in the small tainted mirror. “Why is there a magnet in my chest that is hooked to a car battery?”

“Because of the shrapnel I could not remove and is heading to your atrial septum. The magnet keeps it put. Want to see?” He tossed her a small bottle with several blood crusted shrapnel pieces in it. “Have a souvenir.”

“How thoughtful of you.” She bit at him sarcastically. “I knew I should have stayed in bed. And not agree to have presentation of the new body armor for the Afghan Armed Forces in Kandahar. Still it takes balls to abduct an American in broad daylight by attacking an armed convoy on the way to the airport.”

“That just means they wanted you here badly.”

“And where is here?”

“I do not know. As you are aware, mountains provide plentiful of hiding space for terrorists.”

“And do our kidnappers have a name?”

“They call themselves the Ten Rings. And they are your most loyal customers.”

Tasha frowned, remembering the late 2001 model of the bomb SI made that exploded not that far from her face. It was one of the last things SI weapons division produced before shutting down by the beginning of 2003. “That makes absolutely no sense. We have not produced or sold one piece of weaponry for six years.”

“That may be so but various armed forces bought great supply of weaponry before you took over your father’s company. Some of them are still considered more advanced than those in current production by other weapon manufacturers. And terrorists do not shy away from attacking military bases if they believe the gain would be greater than their losses.”

“Outstanding.” Tasha muttered. “I really should have stayed in bed. Then I would not have ended up here.”

“It’s not that bad.”

Her eyebrow arched. “I have a magnet in my chest to prevent bomb shrapnel from killing me all the while being held captive in an unknown location. You have a funny definition of bad.” The man honest to God laughed. “You are certainly a piece of work Stark.”

“That is the general idea everybody gets. What do I call you?”

“Yinsen. Ho Yinsen.”

“Pleased to meet you. Again.”

“Pleased to meet you too.” Before he could say anything else the latch on the door slammed open, followed by rapid words in Arabic, language she did not know but could tell by the very tone it was not very nice or friendly.

At that point, she knew it would go from very bad to even worse. Fuck her life. All she wanted was her own secure four walls she had built in Malibu and Elaine. And maybe that crazy kitten she got Elaine three months ago. She needed to get out of here. Fast.

***

“That went well.” Tasha muttered to herself after finally being able to speak following rather great though entirely ungraceful landing. That was almost two hours ago since she managed to wrangle herself out of the steel entrapment of an armor she designed in the cave to escape.

Her leg muscles were screaming in protest but she kept on walking because she was quite certain her ‘flight’ if she could define it as that along with the explosion she caused by setting every piece of Stark weaponry those bastards had on fire did not go unnoticed. Her mind already made a mental note to discover just how these rampaging murders even got their hands on stuff that was supposedly only sold to US military and its allies six years ago. She would have words with them about arsenal security. Once she finally got there.

Tasha was broken out of her inner musings by the sound of two helicopters flying above her head. Carefully coming down the dune, she was met halfway by none other than Rhodey and couple of rescue officers. “This is the last time I let you book any sort of holiday travels. The accommodations during this one were horribly abysmal.” She said before he got one word out and got a wide smile as a response. “I wholly agree. Come on.”

He helped her walk the last few steps to the chopper and handed her a water bottle the minute they were in the air. He had bazillion of questions but he knew by the steely glint in her brown eyes that he could and had to wait. She offered him some tidbits of information, nothing too personal except for the miniaturized arc reactor embedded in her chest to keep her alive. That was quite a shock to process along with an order, because he could not define that wording and tone coming from her as anything else, to not tell anyone which is why she spent good hour fighting with the doctors when they reached the base to lay off.

After coming to conclusion that other than the obvious circle of light in her chest that was keeping cluster of shrapnel in place, she had no serious injury whatsoever aside from the impressive collection of bruises and cuts she got during the escape along with somewhat severe case of dehydration; they loaded on C-17 along with small medical team just in case and flew towards US. When Rhodey first told that Elaine, Shani, Pepper and other people of closer relevancy to Tasha were informed and that her private jet would be sent; she just gave him a sharp angry look that told that no, she had not learnt exact art of patience during her captivity and would not wait whole day to get back to her daughter. He conceded to that and thus found himself in C-17.

Elaine Stark was following in the footsteps of her mother when it came to physical appearance. The eleven year old was reaching for above the average height of her peers, same jaw line and copy-paste smile. She was not crazy genius like her mother but could still talk circles around majority of science community. And currently had just as red rimmed eyes as Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts, Tasha’s PA and person the Stark engineer found herself calling friend much sooner than she expected. That made her total number of friends three because Happy refused to be listed as one. He was more than satisfied to be close associate/chauffer/bodyguard.

“Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of them.” She muttered to Rhodey, never taking her eyes off Elaine.

Her poor girl looked like she lost quite a bit of weight, probably had great lapses in eating patterns. That too she picked from her. The moment Tasha’s feet were on the hard concrete; Elaine rushed forward with little regard for the arm sling and squeezed her mother for all she was worth. “I missed you Elaine but I still require oxygen to function.” Tasha managed to squeak out before Elaine let go, giving the opportunity for Tasha to kiss her forehead.

“I missed you so much.”

“And I you. We’ll get trash food later though.” Elaine managed a small smile, her eyes glued to her mother as she walked around to greet Pepper. “Your eyes are red. Few tears for your long lost boss?”

“Tears of joy.” The brunette returned just as wittily, inwardly enjoying the rapport she had missed so much. “I hate job hunting.”

“Yeah, vacation’s over. Come on.” Tasha instructed, curtly greeting Happy as she climbed into the back of the limo. “Where to Miss?”

“Take us to the hospital please Happy.”

“No.”

“No?”

“Tasha, you have to go the hospital-“ “I don’t have to do anything.” “The doctors need to look at you.” “I’ve been in captivity for three months. “

Elaine smirked, watching the exchange like a tennis match. It was a small bit of her mother showing that she was factually alright. Not hundred percent but she would get there. “There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger. And the other-”

“That’s enough of that.”

“It’s not what you think. I want you to find me some people who could officially investigate as to how wack job terrorists managed to get their hands on SI weaponry.”

Pepper frowned. “What? But SI has not produced weapons-”

“I know, Pep. But they had last produced models and lots of them. I want to know how they obtained them. I don’t care what money we have to pay, I want answers. Hogan drive, cheeseburger first. Then quick stop at the HQ to get Obadiah off my back.”

That particular encounter could have gone better, and by the end she seriously considered making a muzzle for Rhodey because she did not want to discuss her very important part of staying alive with Obadiah and she did not like the look in his eyes once he saw it. It gave her the creeps and sounded red alert in her mind. Flashing a smile and promise to lay low until the media dust settled, Tasha made her way to the Rolls Royce that was waiting outside.

Her trek however was interrupted by a man in his early forties, whose hairline has started to recede bit ahead of schedule, dressed in a perfectly ironed black suit and tie that just screamed government agency; making her feel sorry for not bringing Happy with her in the building. “Miss Stark. May I speak with you for a moment?”

Deep breath in and out, her lips automatically flexed in oh so well known fake smile. “Which one?”

“Pardon?”

“My PA informed me that we have already been approached, by CIA, FBI, DOD, NSA etc. Which one are you?”

If anything, she would give him credit for having the best poker face she had ever seen. “I’m agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.”

Her jaw almost dropped open at the sheer coolness with which he spoke the name of the agency. “That is quite a mouthful.”

“I know, we’re working on it.”

“Have you guys ever considered just saying S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Judging by the slight twitch of his jaw muscles, she went with ‘no’. “Because that sounds like something typically sentimental Howard or probably Peggy Carter would have come up with.”

And there was a vicious satisfaction blooming in her upon see slight of shock settling in though agent Coulson looked determined to put a stopper to her little barrage. “We need to debrief you about the circumstances of your escape.”

“I got captured, I escaped. End of story. Patience is not my virtue so waiting to be found and/or rescued was not something that appealed to me and these guys were for some reason loaded with old weapons from my company. Weapons I was under specific mindset that they were sold only to US military and its allies. Anyway, was I tortured? Yes. But I didn’t spill any of my trade secrets which is what ultimately brought you here instead of any sort of concern for my actual well being. There’s your debrief. Now if you excuse me, I have a date with my incredibly soft bed and glass of cherry juice.” She walked past him, trying to swallow the inexplicable amount of anger that welled up inside her.

Tasha made few steps from him before she stopped again, unable to help herself. “Tell Nick Fury to uh, bite me. Have a  nice day.” With that she stormed off.

She really wanted her four walls of Malibu comfort.

***

“So what exactly are you working on? Pepper said you made quite the spectacle last week when Stane swung by.” Elaine asked upon descending in the belly of the beast or more commonly known as her mother’s workshop.

Her mother was a workaholic. That was a given and this she knew since she could remember what the word meant. Natasha Stark did not have a benefit of idle mind. It was always calculating and designing something. The only ‘quiet’ times, if one could even call them that, was when Elaine was around. The eleven year old did not know much of Howard Stark’s character as her mother was always tight lipped about him and her mother but she kind of guessed from all that was not said and cold distant looks that there had been little, if any love between father and daughter.

Because of that, among the myriad of others things that made Natasha Stark just as she was now, the genius engineer always dropped her work whenever Elaine asked and did her best to be the best parent possible for Elaine. Sure, she stumbled about it more than most people would but without employing a full time nanny and determined to do as much as possible by herself was more than what majority of rich people did when it came to parenting.

The workshop was an organized mess which was nothing new but she was a bit surprised to see her mother’s arm wrapped in something she would wildly guess was some sort of repulsor or plasma focus. It made very little sense, considering her mother was determined not to have ‘arms dealer’ taped to her back. “I thought you were done making weapons long ago ma.”

“I did. This is a flight stabilizer. Sort of.” Tasha replied absent minded, using the screwdriver to loosen up the hold of the metal casing. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

“Secret project?”

“Yes. Light it up JARVIS.” As asked, th A.I. projected the holographic image of what Elaine could only define as a suit of armor. “Is that what you escaped in?”

“Somewhat yes. The original was far more bulkier and ungraceful. It went through serious redesign since then and good number of upgrades. What do you think?”

“What exactly is its purpose mom? You’re not in a cave anymore.”

“At first I thought I was making it for protection but…”

“But what?”

“Those people, they have Stark Industries weaponry. Sure it’s old but it still just as potently destructive. From all the data I managed to gather so far, they acquired it on black market. But who put them there? And who else has them? One thing I promised myself Elaine is that the moment Howard’s company became mine; weapons would be the first to go. Sure, I enjoy blowing shit up but within confines of my workshop and totally empty patches of land where there is no risk to life whatsoever, human or otherwise. I need to trace every single piece of weaponry that is not in the hands of US armed services and get whoever is responsible for putting it in hands of butchers. I can’t take whatever is left legally with the various militaries but I can sure as hell try to take them from terrorists.”

Elaine studied her in concerned but curious silence, equally blue eyes staring back at her. “And what do you do when you find them? When you’re done?”

“I’m gonna buy two pints of Graeter’s ice cream and we’re gonna eat it on top of lady Liberty because I’m shameless.”

“Mint chocolate chip and Dutch chocolate?”

“Yup.”

“And what if you end up liking it?” Elaine just about whispered, tears slowly pooling in her eyes. “Liking what sweetheart?”

“Flying that suit. Catching bad guys.”

“I…I guess I’ll keep doing it.”

“You promise not to actively seek ways to kill yourself whilst doing it?”

“I have a very good and compelling reason to stay alive for as long as humanly possible. Same one that got me out of that cave and back home.” The quiet tone did Elaine in and she jumped in her mother’s arms, tears spilling over. “I was so scared.”

And this was something Tasha was waiting for ever since she returned from Afghanistan. Sure there was a teary hug and babbling the first day but Elaine kept most of her reaction bottled up and Tasha knew she would have to wait until it finally spilled out. “I was scared too. And I’ll probably be scared every time I fly that thing. But maybe the knowledge that I’ll be doing some good will keep me going. I know in my heart that this…what I want to do is right.”

“Okay.” Elaine nodded in her chest before pulling away to wipe her tears and looked at the computer screens. “So, what did you have in mind?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, this chapter is shorter and I borrowed some lines from Iron Man (2008). Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will do my best to get the next part up in a day or two.


	3. Chapter 3

“Elaine! Your cat is draped over Butterfingers again!” Paintbrush froze inch away from the easel and brown eyes travelled to the ceiling, despite the pointlessness of the action since the owner of the voice was downstairs in the workshop.

“Fluffy likes the bots.”

She could hear her mother snort over the com. “Fluffy…Why did you even name him Fluffy? He’s anything but fluffy, the lazy menace.”

“I just liked the name.”

“Whatever, just come and get him. I don’t need him lurking behind my back while I’m working. What was I thinking getting you a cat?”

Elaine rolled her eyes, already half way out of her studio, her feet carrying her to the workshop. “That you taught me too well how to employ puppy look.”

“How are you my kid?”

“Is that rhetorical?”

Her fingers tapped in the access code to open the glass door that let her in. Immediately she located now already a year old silver tabby draped over her mother’s bot, completely ignoring the ruckus Dum-E and U were creating around him. Her mother was deeply engaged with her new suit as she always were for the past two months since she had returned from Afghanistan. She could tell from the death grip she had on the screwdriver that she was frustrated, more than likely the combination of not being able to dig up who was selling old Stark Industries weaponry and having to meet the board of directors to prove she was sane to run the company.

Now, Elaine was eleven and by no means experienced with life but she knew her mother. She may still be sane but the countless sleepless nights, haunted faraway stares and longing looks towards unopened bottle of whiskey were not missed on her. Elaine could tell her mother was trying but a piece of her stayed in that cave. And she was afraid that as much good she could do with the suit, she was also using it to hide from everything. Even her. And Elaine did not like that. Her mother was her everything.

Shaking off the creeping fear, Elaine reached for Fluffy, who simply continued to sleep and purr once he was in her arms, and approached her mother’s working space. “Gauntlets still giving you trouble?”

“Not really, I’m just making sure they’ll assemble right. I can’t really afford for one plate to shift wrong or even worse fall off midflight.”

“Well-” “Ma’am.”

“What is it JARVIS?”

“Miss Aven is currently entering the premises. I believe she is distressed.”

“What? Like crying?”

“No, ma’am.” JARVIS almost sounded amused. “I believe this type of distress Miss Aven experiences every time one of her electronic devices malfunction.”

Tasha laughed. It never failed to make her remember how she first met Shani. They were eleven and Shani had been brought along to Stark mansion in New York because her father had something important to discuss with Howard on short notice. Tasha had just finished her very late breakfast and was on her merry way back to the bedroom when she heard very quiet and imaginative swearing from one of the hallway alcoves. It had been even greater surprise to find the source of curses and swears to be a girl of her age, glaring absolute murder at PowerBook 100 that was obviously broken in some way. After jumping at being startled and insulting Tasha for skulking around, they bonded over the offensive piece of tech Tasha fixed in no time. Seriously, that thing offended her in many ways, and she had only been eleven at the time. “I swear, she has some sort of curse on her. She can’t have a piece of tech for more than six months before it breaks down.”

“She washed the last three phones with her jeans.” Elaine deadpanned but still skipped up the stairs happily, excited to see her godmother.

“What did you break this time?” Tasha said instead of standard greeting, not that Shani ever minded.

Neither had the habit of using typical pleasantries with each other but went straight to the point of the conversation. It was time efficient and honest, something both women appreciated. “My laptop screen is blank.”

“But it’s turned on?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s probably memory failure.” Tasha replied, accepting the ailing laptop. “I’ll take it down to shop and fix it. Shouldn’t take longer than fifteen minutes.”

“Right. Then maybe we can go out for early lunch, just the three of us.”

“Oh, I’d like that.” Elaine replied excited, startling Fluffy from his peaceful sleep in the process and the accompanying hiss expressed his displeasure with this.

“Keep the cat ninja away from the shop.” Tasha’s voice echoed through her descent. “How is she?” Shani asked, setting down her laptop briefcase.

Elaine shrugged. “She’s…mom. But I saw her staring at the bottle of scotch. She didn’t open it or even touch it but I could tell she wanted to.”

“Damn it. I knew I shouldn’t have let her just blow off my calls because she’s busy.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Shani. You know mom still has difficulties sharing information on her inner well being which is conflicting as hell, considering our occasional heart to heart talks in the middle of the night over two pints of ice cream.”

“That’s not the point, sweetheart. Your mother spent three months in a cave with her wounds barely healed. That’s enough to unhinge professionally trained soldiers. She should talk to someone.”

“Well she’s not talking to me or anyone else as far as I know. Good luck trying to get her to see a shrink.”

“Done!” Shani and Elaine jump at the sound of Tasha’s exclamation as she reappears out of seemingly nowhere, holding Shani’s laptop in her hands, her favorite black leather jacket already on her and her choppy short hair, which Tasha had to cut that way due to damage her long waves sustained during three months of spending in a cave while doing her best to bust out, looked quickly combed through. “What are you two birdies conspiring?”

“Place to hit with our triple awesomeness.” Shani covered quickly, hating the fact she was lying even if it was for a short while. She knew firsthand how intrinsically bad Tasha was when it came talking about anything related to deeper emotional states. Personally, she blamed Howard and Maria Stark for that. “I call Norm’s. It’s been a while since I had those bacon cheeseburgers of theirs.  And basket of fries.”

“Norm’s will do.” Elaine agrees easily. “But I get that hot fudge brownie, right?”

“Sure thing kiddo.” Tasha hands the laptop back to Shani. “BTW, the dresses look great.”

“Tasha!”

“What? You’re gonna ask me to model anyway.”

Shani shook her head, closing the lid of her briefcase. “That’s just your ego talking. There are actual models who do that for living, you know.”

“All I’m hearing is ‘You’ll look amazing in that grey silver gown’.”

“I  hate you.”

Tasha is laughing as she climbs behind the wheel of her favorite red Mustang. “I love you too, fashion queen.”

“No one calls me that.”

“Well they should. Every time I see the new ‘creations’ on runways, it makes me want to vomit. Why would you design something absolutely no one wants to wear? Aside from the models, seeing as that is their job.”

“It’s called high fashion Tash.”

“It’s called ‘pointless waste of money’.”

Shani snorted. “Some would say buying expensive cars is waste of money.”

“I use my cars, thank you very much.” Elaine rolled her eyes. “Can we get going? I’m hungry.”

“Well we wouldn’t want you to starve in a house packed with food, now would we?”

***

Natasha Stark was a genius. No normal child, regardless of the gender, makes a circuit board from scratch at the age of four or engine at seven. That being said, failing to connect the most obvious of dots when it came to ‘who’ in the ‘who was selling old SI weaponry to terrorists and other faithful clientele of illegal arms market’ made yet another point in Shani and Rhodey’s opinions that her head wasn’t screwed on right. _“You scared Christine! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to faze that woman? Elaine told me your favorite past time at night has become staring at the bottle of the scotch.”_

_“I really don’t have time for this.”_

_“No! You do not get to blow me off! I am not loaded with duties as Rhodey is and what I have been seeing lately disturbs me. He thinks you just need time to get your mind right on your own but I think you need to talk to someone.”_

_“Shani…”_

_“God damn it Natasha Stark!” Shani looked completely livid. “You did not touch alcohol for eleven years and I am not letting you do it again because you refuse to speak to anyone about what happened to you. I know you always had had difficulties with that but it ain’t just you in this house anymore! And I know I can’t even begin to imagine what happ-”_

_“ No you can’t so back off!”_

_“I will not! If you won’t talk to a shrink then talk to the professor. You know he always has time for you.”_

_“I am not going to fly to Westchester for therapy sessions with genetics professor.”_

_“Don’t be obtuse Tash, it doesn’t suit you. There are such things as phones. You know how those work, no?”_

_Sigh. “I’ll think about it.”_

_“Thank you. And whatever it is that Christine told you that made you so pissed off, don’t make too much of a mess. You know Pepper doesn’t like those.”_

She didn’t know what had been worse. The fact she could actually feel the cluster of shrapnel slowly crawling towards her heart or the absolutely gut wrenching scream that escaped Elaine’s lips when she found her mother half paralyzed on the sofa in common area looking like all the blood just evaporated from her body. So much about reassuring her daughter about not dying. “Who did this?” Elaine had asked when Tasha managed to settle the old chest piece back in the socket. Thank goodness for Pepper and her sentimentality. “Stane.”

“Obadiah?! Why would he-?”

“Apparently he had gotten tired of waiting for me to fail.” The engineer managed to rasp out, trying to catch her breath properly and as luck would finally have it, Rhodey appeared in her trashed workshop, apparently called by very worried Pepper. “Where is she?”

“She’s fine, she’s with five agents, they’re about to arrest Obadiah.”

“That’s not gonna be enough. Help me up. And JARVIS, start assembling new chest piece. I don’t know what I was thinking, going around without proper spare. ” It was somewhat scary, the ease and speed that took for her to get in the MK-III suit but she had very little time to dwell on it, taking to the skies after almost super gluing Elaine to Rhodey.

What was it with men and size? Was it some sort of bio-psychological wiring in their brain that said bigger is always better.  Now, the original suit she designed  in the cave was bigger than her current one but she hardly had the environment, tools or time to refine it at the time into something more elegant and gracefully useful. Stane’s suit on the other hand was obscenely large and part of her felt insulted. But in the end, Stane managed to prove the old saying ‘The bigger they are, the harder they fall’. She just selfishly wished he fell anywhere else but the company’s arc reactor section. 

She didn’t stay unconscious for long, mostly because of Pepper’s hysterical screams in her ear and unmistakable voice of agent Coulson. There was no way in hell they would get anywhere near the suit, even to just see it. Her field of vision when she finally managed to open her eyes was full of red hair. “Pep…Bit of air please.”

A very long sigh of relief escaped Pepper’s lips. “Oh thank God. I thought you were dead.”

“Well…” Tasha looked down at her torn suit and noticed that the chest piece was still functioning though barely so. “This is still shining so I’m alive. But I need to get back to my house.”

“No, you need a hospital visit.”

“Pepper, if I don’t replace this already failing chest piece with new one, no doctor on this planet will be able to help me. “

Pepper did not look satisfied by Tasha’s refusal to go to the hospital, again, but could not really deny the truth of her statement having seen up close that the chest piece was vital for her survival. “Fine, but don’t think you’re off the hook for that stunt you just pulled.”

“It wasn’t a stunt Pep. He had to be stopped. I would have preferred that he stayed alive to dump him in prison but he tried to drag me down. So I let go.”

“Alright. Let’s just get going before reporters get here. Can you get out of this thing?”

“Yes but I will not leave it behind so they can dig through it.” Tasha nodded towards slowly but steadily rising amount of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the premises of SI. “Just get me to the car; I’ll pay for new upholstery. Or I’ll just buy a new car.”

The ride to the mansion, which was full of tense silence and occasional remark from Pepper about Tasha’s heroics and how they should handle the entire thing tomorrow, was remarkably short one. Tasha was sure Pepper broke just about every speeding limit though it’s not like she could lecture her about it because she lived for speed or complain, because she was on a very short time limit. “Is the chest piece ready JARVIS?” Tasha asked the moment Pepper brought the car to a stop, the exit followed by the sound of further ripping of the upholstery. Suffice to say, the passenger seat was half torn and dirty beyond any hope of being clean again.

“Two more minutes ma’am.”

“I’m not sure I have two more minutes.” The removal of the suit was painful but easy enough because nothing got fused together. “Try to stay still ma’am. Any movement expends your energy.”

“I am painfully aware of that JARVIS. Where’s that damn chest piece?”

“Forty seconds.”

“Do you need my help to put the chest piece in?” Pepper asked, close at Tasha’s side in case the engineer suddenly keeled over.

“No but thank you. I redesigned it since you helped me with the previous two months ago.”

“The chest piece is complete ma’am.” JARVIS cut in and before Tasha could even blink, less get up; Pepper was already across the room to pick up the piece from the small assembly station then back at her side.

Though her hands were shaky, Tasha managed to swap now barely blinking chest piece for fully functional one, preventing any movement of the shrapnel. Her body still ached and she was certain it would remain that way for couple of days, unaccustomed to being tossed around like a rag doll but she was alive so there was no point in complaining. “You okay now?”

“Yeah. But I-“ “Mom!” The blur that was Elaine came to a complete stop mere inch before Tasha, brown eyes scanning every part of her. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, kid, I’m okay. Bruised but alive.”

“Obadiah?” Rhodey asked, coming in with a slower speed. “Gone.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, Rhodey bear. God, I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming?”

“No one saw it coming Tasha.” Rhodey countered. “But I should have. Ever since I was a kid, he didn’t sit well with me. And the suspicion never really left me. But I thought the worst he would dare to do is steal money. Suits me right. Should have booted his ass out of the company when I became CEO.”

“That would not have been the wisest of moves.” Pepper chimed in.

“It would have spared me shit load of pain for one.” Tasha almost hissed. “I underestimated him and lowered my guard; and he used it. Well, I am not repeating that mistake. Where does the investigation about old SI weapons stand?”

“Well, so far we managed to find the names of several middle men and drivers but now that we know Obadiah was behind this, we have a better focus to narrow the search.”

“Good. Sweep SI from top to bottom. He didn’t do everything by himself. He had to have help on the inside. Most certainly in the logistics and engineers from shut down weapons division. I want them found and arrested. All these years, I was keeping tabs on possible money leaks and corporate espionages when the COO has managed to make extra money by selling old SI weaponry on the black market. And I gave him a pass because he was Howard’s second hand. And great Howard Stark would not have an idiot for COO.”

“You need to sleep.”

“Rhodey, Obadiah’s greedy jealousy caused us to fight and trash good chunks of the area surrounding SI HQ. Pretty sure he even managed to injure someone while trying to kill me despite me trying to avoid any casualties and baiting him to the sky. I don’t think sleep is what I should be doing. More like putting out PR fires and getting a total report on our duke out.”

“Although I have had about several mini breakdowns, from finding out that Stane put a hit on you to your showdown on the rooftop, putting out PR fires and getting all reports is my job as your PA. He took your reactor and then you fought him on proverbial fumes. You need to sleep. You need to be at least half rested if you want to be presentable for the press conference.”

All of three of them were leveling her with glares that dared her to defy them. Not that she really could, the adrenaline was slowly leaving her, leaving the ache and amounting exhaustion caused by having her reactor yanked out and fight in its wake. “Fine. But I want every bit of information on what exactly did I demolish tonight and who is in the hospital.”

“Will that be all Miss Stark?”

“That will be all Miss Potts.” Tasha tiredly smiled. “Come on, Pepper, I’ll drive you home. We can discuss how non beneficial to our health Tasha is over drink or two.”

“God yes.”

“That’s cute.” She flipped her best friend a bird before starting to drag her feet to the small freight elevator. “Elaine?”

Her daughter was still frozen in the spot. “Kiddo?”

“Can I stay with you tonight?”

“Yes Elaine. Come on, before I pass out on my feet.”

“You’re not even going to shower?”

“That involves before and after actions I simply have no energy for. I’ll shower in the morning.”

“Alright.” They both crawled into the huge bed Tasha had in her bedroom. “JARVIS, lights and continue where we left off with Star Trek.”

“Of course ma’am.” The lights were turned off and the screen came to life displaying ‘Trouble with Tribbles’. Tasha was out by the time Enterprise reached deep space station K-7.

***

Iron Man. To be truthful, Tasha liked the moniker even if it wasn’t accurate from scientific point of view. And it was fucking interesting that it was automatically presumed that it was a man inside the suit. Apparently, only if you specifically added shapes that indicated female anatomy, did a woman come into consideration. Sexist assholes. And for ultra super spy agency, S.H.I.E.L.D. sucked at having their facts straight when coming up with alibis. Tasha had not had a party on a yacht in…forever. But it is cute that they thought she would keep quiet and they could dangle the secret identity in front of her to get what they wanted. Though she will admit that agent Coulson was very efficient in his job, even if that job  more often than not destroys people’s lives for the greater good and safety of the country and world. “And now Miss Stark has prepared a statement. She will not be taking any questions, thank you.”

“Well, it has been a long while since we had one of these.” Tasha spoke in casual, relaxed tone that made people laughed easily and eat out of her hands. “Now, there's been speculation that I was involved in the events that  occurred on a freeway and the rooftop...”

“I'm sorry Miss Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit, that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that...”

And just like every single time, Tasha wasn’t sure if she wanted to slap Christine Everhart or kiss her. Depending on how professionally she wrote articles about SI and Tasha’s capabilities to run it, she usually got a very expensive gift basket. It was ridiculous really, saying ‘thank you’ with added bonus to someone for doing their job the right way but Tasha admired Christine dedication to her job and not compromising her being for the sake of a story. “I know that it's confusing... It is one thing to question the official story, and another entirely to make wild accusations or insinuate that I'm a superhero.”

“I never said you're a superhero.”

“You didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and...fantastic. I just don’t think I would be able to fit superhero with all the other responsibilities I have. After all-”

“Just stick to the cards.”

“Yeah, okay. The truth is...” And fuck it but unlike the rest of the room who was lapping up her every word, Christine was just sitting there and Tasha could swear the woman was a telepath, loudly projecting ‘I know this is a total lie’ at her; and Coulson’s impassive mask was cracking ever so slowly. Her gaze briefly settled on Pepper in the far back, who looked between pleading for her to stay quiet and planning how to handle the absolute uproar that was about to be caused. She was Natasha Stark. And her life will be in her hands. No one else’s.

“I am Iron Woman.” And Christine Everhart smiled. It was not ‘I knew it’ smile. It was not one of derision. It was ‘This is why I respect you’ smile. It was also ‘I want an exclusive’ smile. It looked like Vanity Fair’s next issue would be completely sold out.

Flashing another winning smile at the crowd, Tasha quickly escaped the room with Rhodey hot on her heels. Pepper will need two weeks of vacation for this.  

“Why I am not surprised?” Rhodey spoke the moment they managed to get to her office, closing the door behind him.

Tasha leaned on the edge of her desk. She calculated she had six point three minutes before Pepper stormed in. “Because you know me Rhodey bear. Besides, I didn’t do it so I can have even more attention.”

That only got her a perfectly arched eyebrow and knowing smile in reply. “Well maybe just a little. Coulson’s face was definitely worth it. Besides, this way, if I mess up big time, people will know who’s responsible. I won’t make a liar and hypocrite out of myself by going back on things I upheld in the past since I took over SI. Accountability is one of them.”

“Hey, you have no complaint from me. But you do realize now they’ll try to take the suit from you?”

“Let them try.” Tasha replied as she approached him. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“And what would that be?”

The slap was fast, unexpected and resounded loudly from the four walls of her office that was drowned in silence.

“What the hell Tasha?!”

“That’s for telling Stane about the ARC reactor.” Her voice was dripping ice; and while it was not unfamiliar to Rhodey, he was not used to being the one she used it on. “I love you and I trust you but if you ever…ever speak to someone else about ARC reactor, my very lifeline and vulnerability, because you think you should share your concern on how it affects my behavior, we are going to have serious issue. My heart is not yours in a fashion that you can freely pass it around for examination. Do you understand?”

Rhodey’s jaw muscles clenched tightly. “Yes.” He could say hindsight is 20/20 and that looking back on it now, it wasn’t the best of decisions he’s made but that would not mean anything to Tasha. After all, she trusted Obadiah Stane with things that were strictly business related. Even when she let him in her home, there were only so many rooms he was allowed to go to. But it was him of all people Rhodey decided to place his concern about Tasha with. If he hadn’t…Rhodey shook his head minutely. It was of no worth to dwell on what ifs. But it was still punch in the gut that his decision could have very well charged him with the price of Tasha’s life.

“Good.” A weak smile stretched her lips. “You should go, Pepper’s gonna barge in any minute now and tear me a new one. Go do whatever you need to do when you are not liaison to SI, eat something, sleep on this if you can and then come by workshop tomorrow. I have some ideas for War Machine.”

“War Machine?”

“Yeah, you got a better idea? I can always call it rental Mark-II.”

Rhodey smiled. “Nah, War Machine’s fine.”

“Alright. Now-” Her smartphone started ringing, cutting her off. “You answer that, it’s probably Shani to tear your head off. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Traitor.” She joked and pressed answer button without even looking at the screen. “Hello.”

“I am Iron Woman.” The voice on the line was lightly accented, older and without any serious inflection but it still had the desired effect of freezing Tasha to the spot. “Would you mind explaining that little genius?”

“Uh…”

“You will make your way to D.C. as soon as possible so we can have a nice chat. And bring Elaine. I have not seen her in a long time.”

“Peggy, I really…”

“I expect you by the end of the week Natasha Stark.” With that the line went dead. Give her ten rounds with the press any day. Giving a succinct and perfectly good explanation to her godmother Peggy Carter? That was a completely different thing.


	4. Chapter 4

Whenever a magazine, usually teen, fashion or health, published a story on how ‘perfect’ Natasha Stark was; physically speaking, Tasha would have a rebuttal sent to the magazine within two days or in more recent times, she would just post her rebuttal on her Facebook page or Twitter. The last thing she wanted was young girls and women getting eating disorders and feeling enormous amount of pressure just to fit into what the media labeled as perfect. She was more than aware the genes awarded her with beauty and often used her looks to charm people when it was necessary but Tasha refused to be put on pedestal and called one of the most beautiful women on the planet just so some magazine could sell.

Not to mention that right now, Tasha did not feel beautiful at all. In fact, it took a great restraint not to shove her fist in the floor mirror that was reflecting back everything. It was not a habit of hers, to stand naked in front of the mirror and have a lengthy, detailed inspection of her body form. She had always been fit, healthy food did not get you far if you did not have regular exercise of some kind but her skin on the forearms had quite a number of thin and now very faded scars she accumulated during her inventing hours and just being genius engineer in general. There were also stretch marks on her lower abdomen, close to the pelvis but she did not mind those either.

No, what got to her was the mess on her upper torso around her chest area where the reactor was. The skin around the socket looked like crumpled paper that has been straightened and stretched out. And yet again she was grateful she did not have large breasts so they were not as damaged as she originally thought albeit the specialist she had seen straight out told her that her left one would probably not be able to conduct biological function of lactation again. This was not because of the reactor but rather the shrapnel that damaged the ducts in the breast. Even now, she was not certain how to feel about that particular, potential future problem. And that was largely due to the fact she had poison slithering through her bloodstream, silent killer strangling her slowly with her every breath. As if reduced lung capacity because of the arc reactor was not enough.

Three months, twenty five days, thirteen hours and nine minutes. That is how long it has been since she became Iron Woman in front of the eyes of the world. That is how long she was flying around the world chasing terrorists, last caches of old Stark weaponry Stane sold and all sorts of Earth’s low lives that she came across. The best part, she had found, were news channels that had entire shows dedicated to analyzing her actions of the day. Security experts, military experts, shrinks and what nots all gathered around a table and talking nonsense. It was incredibly amusing. She was not a solider but that did not mean she lacked the insight for tactics. How did these people think she was able to run her company so well and keep it on the very top without faltering? Her looks alone did not get her or the company there.

Only upon very close inspection could one see the barest slivers of road rash emerging around the reactor. It only served as a reminder that she had a very real expiration date closing in and she was coming up with nothing that could save her life. The only thing she managed to come up with was a compound to alleviate symptoms. Finally detaching her eyes from the mirror, she slid into comfortable sweatpants and tank top before sinking into her bed that was littered with great amount of papers. All of them were her back ups in case she failed to find an answer to her now terminal condition.

Elaine was eleven and would need someone grounded to help her navigate life and grow up.  Someone being Rhodey and Shani. Tasha knew they would take care of Elaine; the promise was made when she was born and unlike some godparents they took their duties seriously. This she knew because they did just that for the three months she was gone. The company would need firm hand to run it. There were so many things she needed to put in order. Just in case.

Rhodey and Shani were coming over for dinner tonight. She needs to tell them. She has to tell them. There was zero room for selfishness here. They needed to know. Elaine needed to know. How the fuck was she supposed to tell them that the thing that is keeping her alive is also killing her? There is no guide for this sort of thing. The only people who knew about her condition were her godmother and the professor. Her godmother always knew how to read her and the professor’s telepathy made him freakishly good at reading people. It was next to impossible to lie to him.

At least she was talking to someone as Shani asked. Tasha could admit that it helped even if she was against it at first and her nightmares did not torment her every night but as the professor said, some of it would never go away. And him taking it away would remove piece of who she was now. Life was not a straight line of sunshine, rainbows and puppy love. It was messy, dark road full of traps just waiting for you to collapse into them. Whether one got up and overcame them, grabbing onto happiness whenever it was in reach was entirely up to that person. No one would serve it on silver platter.

“Mom?” Elaine’s quiet, curious tone snapped Tasha out of her musings. “What is it child of mine?”

Elaine smiled faintly. “Wanted to ask you the same question. You’re listening Annie Lennox.”

“Ah.” Tasha bit her lower lip strongly, almost drawing blood. Her mind was running at impossible speed, thoughts mixed and collided as to whether she should tell Elaine now or later, after she had told Rhodey and Shani.

But considering she was pretty sure how they would react, the ‘now’ thoughts won out. She really did not want for Elaine to walk in during what would most likely contain shouting. Then again it may not. It really depended on how her friends would take the news. And then tomorrow she would need to have same conversation with Pepper. Because she could not imagine anyone else running Stark Industries. Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts was no engineering genius but she was outstanding business woman and very capable of taking on whatever was thrown at her. Tasha just hoped she would accept the offered position.

Tired, slightly labored sigh escaped Tasha’s lips. “Sit down Elaine. We need to have a serious conversation.” This alone set off all alarms in Elaine’s head. “Mom?”

“There is no easy way for me to say this. However, you need to know…”

***

Tasha really, really wanted to a drink right now. Desperately even. It has been exactly an hour since she told Rhodey and Shani about her condition. Rhodey’s reaction was pained, rage filled yell of ‘What’ followed by pacing up and down the common area and has not stopped since while Shani was holding the coffee cup like it was her lifeline. She was yet to say one thing besides the very weak ‘why’ that accidentally slipped past her lips. Why? That was a question no one could ever hope to answer. Too many variables. Why must it be like this? Why can’t you use something else? Why me? Too many whys.

Elaine was yet to leave her room but JARVIS has told Tasha that Elaine has stopped crying her eyes out and was currently painting. It was unbelievable just how similar they were in some things. Upon learning something terrifying, both would throw themselves into creation to work through the feelings that accompanied the facts that were yet to be fully taken in.

“Is that why I saw Mr. Bohman walking out of the mansion the other day?” Shani finally spoke.

“Yes. Slight revision to my will.”

“Who else knows? Besides us and Elaine.”

“Peggy. And the professor.”

“You told the professor before you told us?” Rhodey sounded affronted and still shocked. “He’s a telepath Rhodey and even though he doesn’t wander into my mind without permission, he is scary good at reading people. You know it’s rather impossible to lie to the man.”

“I know but…shit, this is fucked up.”

“I know.”

“How the fuck can you be so calm?”

“Calm?” Tasha’s tone pitched up a bit. “I am not calm, Rhodey. I am screaming inside. I feel like I could scream all day long. I am terrified. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to leave Elaine; I don’t want to leave you. You know I won’t take this lying down and not do anything about it. I have been working on this since I got back. I am a genius Rhodey and right now, I have nothing. Only a very real ticking clock. And I really, really want a drink right now. And I CAN’T HAVE IT!”

“Tash…”

“I. am. not. calm. But if I don’t keep some semblance of control, I will go off the rails and may as well shoot myself right now.”

“How long?” She looked at Shani, shrugging slightly. “Months. Not even sure it is a full year.”

“Then get to work.” Shani stated resolutely, straightening up in her seat. “Do the impossible like you always do.”

“I am trying Shani.”

“Do or do not. There is no try.”

Right corner of her mouth quirked up. “Did you just quote Yoda on me?”

“If it gets you going.”

“Right.” Tasha looked at Rhodey who had suddenly sat down. “You look ready to blow up man.”

“And how am I supposed to look?”

“I really don’t know.” Deep breath in. “How am I supposed to look?”

“Touché.” The heavy silence settled over three adults, nothing but crackling fire in the fireplace could be heard. Finally the reality was sinking in truly. Tasha wasn’t really sure what to say next. So she remained silent. All three of them did for long time after.

The clock was still annoyingly ticking. God, she needed a drink. Just for one night to jump into oblivion without a single care in the world. Pint of mint chocolate ice cream and long hours in workshop will have to do instead.  

It was close to midnight, Rhodey and Shani gone after extracting a promise that she would not just give up and die. As if she needed to make that a promise. One look at her slumbering daughter on the couch in the workshop was all the reason she needed to fight tooth and nail for survival. And, she did enjoy her life, fucked up as it was. Dumping her entire body into the chair, Tasha tucked her legs in and dug into the pint of ice cream she fished out of the freezer.  After several spoonfuls, her eyes caught sight of a manila folder she forgot she even found it, little less brought down in the workshop.

It was thick and quite worn out. Old. Her father’s obsession. And source of unreachable, unfulfilled expectations Howard set for her. His never ending mission of finding Steve Rogers’s body. Or as the man was better known – Captain America. She knew that being angry with the dead man for her father’s faults and errors would do her no good. And it definitely was not healthy. But this was a crappy day. So she may as well go through it once again. To see how far in his search Howard got. Maybe she should look for the soldier’s body herself. If she found him, maybe she could put him to rest. And maybe…just maybe close that particular mine of unattainable perfections.

She opened it. And on the front page, black and white photograph was attached with a paperclip. It was Steve Rogers in his Captain America outfit minus the helmet. And he was smiling.


	5. Chapter 5

Convincing Pepper to take over as CEO of Stark Industries did not define as Tasha giving up on finding a cure for her deteriorating condition was rather difficult but the genius had prepared an actual pros and cons list she dated to make sure Pepper knew it was not some spur of the moment thing Tasha came up with one morning after waking up. It had been two months since she had informed them of her still terminal condition and if she was going to make any headway, she had to release the pull on some reins. Pepper was more than competent to lead SI, after all she had spent eight years as Tasha’s PA so running a multinational company should be a walk in the park.

“I’m gonna need a new PA.” The newly furnished space that was now the office of new SI CEO Pepper Potts was much better than the one Tasha had. Less Spartan. Not that it was something Tasha would complain about, she only ever used the office when it was absolute necessity. The labs of various departments were much better workspace for her.  “I’ve already started vetting promising candidates. So what do you think?”

“About what?”

Pepper rolled her eyes. “The office.”

“It’s nice.”

“But?”

“Pep, what does my workplace look like?”

“Oil, tools and various bits and pieces strewn over all possible surfaces you do not use at the moment.”

“Exactly. Now I like the way you furnished your office but you know that I am just about allergic to office spaces and spend only required amount of time in them.”

“True. So I thought-” A curt knock on the door shortly preceded the entrance of a beautiful woman in Tasha’s opinion. “Good day Miss Stark, Miss Potts. I have the papers you requested.”

“Thank you Miss Rushman. Tasha, sign this will you? There are only so many times I will ask for control of your company.”

“You say the sweetest things Pep.” The right corner of her mouth lifted in the patented public Stark smirk no. 7, her eyes did a very indiscrete once over of one Miss Rushman before taking the pen from the table and signing the papers that officially made Pepper the new CEO.

The short term benefit of signing the documents was that it allowed Tasha to hide her face from the newcomer. There was no doubt that she was competent. SI did not hire any other kind. No…it was something else. Maybe it was her increased paranoia. Maybe it was the fact that her current state made her hyper vigilant. Nevertheless, the feeling of being assessed refused to part with her. She was being ridiculous. “There you go. Congratulations Miss Potts.”

“Thank you Miss Stark.” Pepper closed the map and handed it back to Miss Rushman. “Is there anything else you require?”

“No, Miss Potts, thank you.”

Tasha’s attention already shifted to 1974 model of Stark Expo sitting in the corner of Pepper’s office. It was probably one of rare ideas Howard Stark had that she approved off, therefore she haggled with Pepper to make it happen. You have your condition to think, Pepper said. Not showing off new tech. But it wasn’t just Stark Industries showing off. Sure, other companies were given presentational space but she cared less for those. There were plenty of young, talented minds that needed an outlet…a platform and she wanted the Expo to provide. But she hasn’t actually seen the Expo model that was used as point of origin for the new one. And the more she stared at it, the more her brain was extrapolating patterns that were too deliberate for simple model of a grand exhibition. “Pepper, I’ll be taking this model with me.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m not sure yet. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything.” Tasha faced her former PA. “What was the name of that legal person who was just in?”

“Natalie Rushman.”

“Natalie Rushman.” Name passed Tasha’s lips in a whisper. “Put her on your list for potential PA’s will you? She seems confident and competent enough.”

“Alright. Do you want me to call someone to help with the model?”

“Nah, I’ll haul it myself to the car. I have some time to kill before doctor Grey arrives this afternoon.”

“You made some progress then?” It was almost heartbreaking the way Pepper vocalized her hope. “Doctor McCoy came up with something to abate the symptoms but he has pressing matter to attend to so doctor Grey is bringing it to me.  We’re still working on the permanent solution. It’s not like there’s plenty of people voluntarily putting palladium in their bloodstream. Therefore it’s quite an unexplored territory.”

“Well then you better get going. Don’t forget, the Expo opens tomorrow at seven pm. Please don’t be late.”

“Am I ever?”

Pepper smiled. “Would you like that list in alphabetic or chronological order?”

“Very funny Miss Potts. Now go…survey your new empire.”

“It’s not actually mine. I’m more like a steward.” Tasha opened the double door and picked up the first part of the model. “Well then, lady Potts, your empress commands you to survey her technological empire.”

It has been a while since she had heard Pepper laugh freely. “As you wish, your Imperial Majesty.” With slight shake of her head, the red head left her office to start her duties as CEO of Stark Industries while the Stark heir, as media still liked to call her along with newly minted Iron Woman, began her quest of getting the model of Stark Expo 1974 to her car. There was much to be done.

***

She had to hand it to Hank McCoy, the man knew his biochemistry. The little cocktail he came up with eased her symptoms of palladium poisoning significantly, helping her focus. The opening of 2010 Stark Expo went off without a hitch though Pepper said the jump from airplane was overkill in her opinion. Tasha disagreed. It was exactly the small amount of thrill she needed and it helped to keep up appearances. Being ordered to appear before Senate’s Arms Service Committee was not a surprise, more a question of when. It was truly amusing to watch nine grown ass men grasp at straw and generally look confused by her snarky comebacks but senator Stern was really the cherry on top of that ridiculous committee sundae.

Time and again, despite being more than well aware on what kind of people constitute the political majority in just about any state on this planet, her brain continued to experience input process failures whenever someone like senator Stern started talking. “It’s a weapon Miss Stark. It’s a weapon.”

“In the right hands, any object could be used a weapon, senator Stern. At least try to look informed. Not to mention your priority-”

“My priority is to get the Iron Man weapon turned over to the people of the United States of America.”

“Well you can forget about that fairy tale senator.” It was interesting how fast commotion could just die down if one used words that apparently were not thought to belong to her dictionary. “I am Iron Woman. The suit and I are one. To turn over the suit would actually mean to turn over myself which at the very least sounds like indentured servitude or prostitution, varying from state to state.”

“Look, I’m not expert…”

“Which is becoming clearer with every passing second.” She was petty enough to enjoy the laughter her statement elicited much to Stern’s embarrassment. “I’m no expert in weapons. We have somebody here who is an expert on weapons. I’d now like to call Justin Hammer, our current primary weapons contractor.”

It took everything in her capacity to not break out laughing like a deranged person when Stern put ‘Justin Hammer’ and ‘expert’ in the same sentence.

“Will there an actual expert attending later or did the bar for ‘expertise’ get really low over the last few years?”

The smile Justin Hammer probably thought was charming made her insides twist and really, she should get a medal every time she had to focus extra power on keeping her best ‘I don’t care’ face in front of everyone. “Absolutely. I’m no expert. I defer to you, Natasha. You’re the wonder girl. Senator, if I may. I may well not be an expert, but you know who was the expert? Your dad.”

In the past, this was the point where Tasha would more often than not freeze because she absolutely detested when everyone talked about her father as if they had all personally known him.  “Howard Stark. Really a father to us all, and to the military-industrial age. Let’s just be clear, he was no flower child. He was a lion. We all know why we’re here. In the last six months, Natasha Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities. And yet, she insists it’s a shield. She asks us to trust her as we cower behind it. I wish I were comforted, Natasha, I really do. I’d love to leave my door unlocked when I leave the house, but this ain’t Canada. You know, we live in a world of grave threats, threats that Miss Stark will not always be able to foresee. Thank you. God bless Iron Woman. God bless America.”

Tasha had always been baffled by the fact that people always applauded the loudest at ‘God bless America’. As if the sheer volume would press the all present being into immediately showering everyone in USA with his benevolence.

“That is well said Mr. Hammer. The committee would now like to invite Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to the chamber.”

Briefly the billionaire genius wondered how bad it would look in the press if she started banging her head against the desk, muttering incoherently about idiots she had to put up with and friends who forget to give her heads up.

“Did you forget how to use a phone, buddy?” She asked whilst shaking his hand.

“Look, it’s me, I’m here. Deal with it. Let’s move on.”

There was absolutely no mistake in communication when her lips pulled into a charming but tight smile that promised Rhodey that she would find a way to be petty about this.

Stern looked like he just won the lottery which was actually quite disturbing if Tasha were asked. “I have before me a complete report on the Iron Man weapon, complied by Colonel Rhodes. And, Colonel, for the record, can you please read page 57, paragraph four?”

“You’re requesting that I read specific selections from my report, Senator?”

“Yes, sir.”

“It was my understanding that I was going to be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner.”

“I understand. A lot of things have changed today. So if you could just read…”

“You do understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect the summery of my final…”

“Just read it, Colonel. I do. Thank you.”

“Very well.” Rhodes opened his report. “As she does not operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Woman presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests. I did however, go on to summarize that the benefits of Iron Woman far outweigh three liabilities and that it would be in our interest…”

“That’s enough Colonel.”

“…to fold Miss Stark…”

“That’s enough-” Tasha bit her tongue lightly to restrain herself from snorting out loud.

“…into the existing chain of command, Senator.”

“I’m not a joiner, but I’ll consider Secretary of Defense, if you ask nice.” Sometimes it was ridiculously easy to entertain a crowd. “We can amend the hours a little bit.”

“I’d like to go on and show, if I may, the imagery that’s connected to your report.”

“I believe it is somewhat premature to reveal these images to the general public at this time.”

“With all due respect, Colonel, I understand. And if you could just narrate those for us, we’d be very grateful. Let’s have the images.” By now, Stern patronizing was grating on Tasha’s nerves and her patience was giving way to her building need to get up and put the man through a wall. Nevertheless, two TV screens lit up, showcasing what to Tasha looked like amateur college workshops though far more dangerous and lethal.

“Intelligence suggests that the devices seen in these photos are, in fact, attempts at making manned copies of Miss Stark’s suit. This has been corroborated by our allies and local intelligence on the ground…” Leaning back in her chair, Tasha started to type on the phone whilst letting Rhodey talk over the footage. “… indicating that these suits are quite possibly, at this moment, operational.”

Without much of a warning, she raised her phone and connected it to the two screens, causing quite an uproar. “I do apologize for my abrupt takeover of your screens but I thought it would be good for everyone to have a little transparency time.”

“What is she doing?”

“If you will direct your attention to said screens, I believe that’s North Korea.”

“Can you turn that off? Take it off.” How silly of her to think she was going to be bored to death.

 “Iran.” Quite desperately Hammer was trying to find the off switch, yet again demonstrating that not only was he over confident but also woefully incompetent. “No grave threat here. Is that Justin Hammer? How did Hammer get in the game? Justin, you’re on TV. Focus up.”

To say the least, Hammer’s ‘suit’ was nowhere near operational. She also made a mental note to check on that pilot. “Wow. Yeah, I’d say most countries, five, ten years away. Hammer Industries, twenty.”

“I’d like to point out that that test pilot survived.” Survived yes. But what sort of life would he continue to have was not something Justin Hammer would publicly explain.

“I think we’re done is the point that she’s making. I don’t think there’s any reason…”

“The point is that this hearing was waste of everyone’s time. Also, you are welcome.”

“For what?”

“Because I’m your nuclear deterrent. It’s working. We’re safe. America is secure. You want my property? You can’t have it. But I did you a big favor.” The billion dollar smile, complete with perfectly white teeth was bared at the crowd and cameras that were behind her.  “I’ve successfully privatized world peace.”

“What more do you want? For now! I tried to play ball with these ass-clowns.”

“Fuck you, Miss Stark. Fuck you. We’re adjourned. We’re adjourned for today.”

“Okay.” Putting on her sunglasses, she pushed through the crowd. She couldn’t have a drink but she could have some burgers and fries. All the patronizing and condescending talk in the hall made her hungry and feel like her brain would shrivel up and die.

“You’ve been a delight.”

The sun was shining and it was a warm day in Washington D.C. It was also very noisy. Very aware that Pepper was following her, Tasha made her way quickly down the stairs where Happy was waiting with open door so she would not be held up by pursuing journalists. Pepper, once she managed to get in as well, looked torn between wanting to scold her and giving her high five. “Well, that was certainly far more entertaining than I thought it would be. Happy, find us a burger joint will you? All that drivel made me hungry.” The black Rolls Royce pulled off and joined the busy D.C. traffic.

“The plane is scheduled to leave in three hours.”

“We are not having seven courses long meal, Pepper. It’s burger and fries.”

Pepper rolled her eyes. “Fine. Happy, just drive.”


	6. Chapter 6

“You mind explaining to me why your house looks like it belongs in extreme house makeover?” The lower level of Stark Malibu mansion looked like several bombs went off at once, cluttered with disassembled crates and half of things Shani could not identify. She could identify twenty five types of hand stitches and six types of stitches made by sewing machine but beyond the basic bolts and screwdrivers, engineering was not her thing.

After watching the Senate hearing on TV three days ago, Shani thought it would be a good time to check on her rather silent friend who all but disappeared from the eyes of the public. “Hmm, what?” Tasha’s head popped up behind the crate she was moving to the side. “Oh, hey Shani. And you know how I am when I am brainstorming.”

“Brainstorming usually includes endless pile of empty coffee mugs and empty snack bowls whilst you have rapid discussion with JARVIS on five different versions of a project that has not been finished in its first version. This-” Shani waved her hands. “Is not brainstorming. This is as close to building a space shuttle in your basement as it gets for you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Shani; I have an entire compound for building a space shuttle if I feel so inclined. Though to be honest, I already worked through some improved designs for a spacecraft. The shuttle consumes too much in order to stay upstairs.”

“Of course you do. Elaine is still in school?”

“Well it is Wednesday so yes, she is. Hopefully.”

“Hopefully?”

“Well, she’s thirteen Shani and year shy from high school. If she doesn’t skip school once like all teenagers do, I’m gonna be questioning my parenting techniques.”

“Riiight…I have no doubts in your parental capabilities and techniques. Your definition of workspace safety however is something I do question sometimes.”

“Where’s your sense of adventures?”

“Right next to common sense thank you. Do you mind explaining just what exactly are you doing?”

“You remember that Expo model I told you about, the one I brought from Pepper’s office?”

“The 1974 Expo yes. Why?”

“Turns out Howard liked to make treasure maps. The treasure on this 3d map is a new element.”

“A new element…” Shani whispered. “Do you think it will work?”

Tasha shrugged, checking that the connected coils were on even level. “I guess we will find out soon enough. You want to stick around for my mad engineer hour?”

“Just how dangerous is this?”

“Something will probably get burned. Or cut. There is twenty six percent chance for minor explosion.”

Shani rolled her eyes, small smile on her lips. “Alright, I’ll take my chances. Is there any particular place I have to move to or is this good enough?”

“It would be best if you are behind me.” Tasha replied, making a final visual check of the whole thing before telling JARVIS to activate her homemade accelerator. She was pretty sure she would get earful about lab and structural safety later from the professor once he found out. “If this is how all your experiments are, how the hell is this house still in one piece?!” Shani shouted over the sound of things being cleanly split and burned, eyes wide watched Tasha aiming the beam at the desk where a small metal circle was propped up.

“I do not usually do such things here!” The engineer replied without looking at her friend, mentally timing the exposure of the metal to the energy beam before shutting to whole thing down, leaving a brightly glowing triangle of something in the wake of it all. “Huh…thought it would be harder than that.”

“Congratulations ma’am.” JARVIS sounded just as impressed as Tasha looked. “You have created a new element.”

Two pairs of brown eyes studied the glowing circle Tasha was holding before she placed it carefully into arc reactor. “The reactor has accepted the modified core. I will begin running diagnostics immediately. Estimated completion time 37 hours and 12 minutes.”

“Two days?”

“It needs testing Shani. And according to this,” Tasha pointed at the small medical scanner. “Says blood toxicity 53%. I can still safely parade around for at least couple of weeks so day and a half won’t mean much.”

“Fine, then we’re going out for lunch.”

“So long as we’re back by three.”

“What’s at three?”

“I am introducing my new PA to my routines.”

Shani was surprised. “That was fast?”

“Eh, Pepper assures me that Miss Rushman is the most qualified for the job. Apparently dealing with complicated people is her thing.”

“Alright. I will get the car ready and you change into something less...oiled and worn out.”

“God forbid you are seen with me in such edition.”

“The scandal!” Shani replied as she climbed the stairs, disappearing from the view. “Status on Natalie Rushman’s background check JARVIS.”

“It is still running ma’am. However from what I have collected so far, Natalie Rushman is indeed a false identity as you have suggested.”

Tasha sighed, exhaustion from everything really taking a grip on her slowly. “So she’s more than likely S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“I fear so ma’am.”

“Make a note that we work on another encryption level later today.”

“You should be resting ma’am. After director Fury disrupted the mansion mainframe, we have added one hundred and eleven encryption levels and upgraded the shielding of all the vital systems that could stand to be crucial targets for electro-magnetic pulse. It is highly unlikely that S.H.I.E.L.D. currently holds in their possession anything to countermand the protection.”

“Fine, you fuss baby. I will rest.”

“Thank you ma’am.”

“Just keep digging on the lovely Miss Rushman. I don’t need more surprises.”

***

“So what are you going to name it?”

Tasha smiled over the rim of her coffee mug, looking at her best friend. “Well, I proposed badassium but Elaine informed me that it was not only a terrible idea, the word also did not exist.”

“Only you Tasha.” Rhodey shook his head. “But it works, right? One hundred percent?”

“For the thirteenth time Rhodey yes it works. I’ve had it for two days now and it is beyond what I could have hoped for. JARVIS is still running additional analysis in how it will act with the suit and what the power usage it will be but I promise it’s safe. I’ll still have to drink chlorophyll and digest active charcoal for foreseeable time but bottom line is that I am not dying.”

Before she could even blink, Rhodey was holding her in a very tight hug. “Tasha…”

“Rhodey bear, it’s okay. Really. But if you could let go now, my lung capacity has not changed back to maximum.” His body shook with laughter, releasing her from his tight hold. “I hope you won’t cling to me as Shani and Elaine have done for the past two days. I swear they counted my breaths during meal times.”

“They were worried.”

“I know Rhodey, I didn’t say it bothered me at all.” Tasha waved her hand. “Now, I didn’t just call you to tell you in person that I rediscovered a new element and that my terminal condition is no longer such. JARVIS, if you would please.”

Rhodey’s attention was captured by the sound of floor plates shifting not far from what Tasha called ‘Hall of Armors’, noticing for the first time the addition of raised circular stage that quickly retracted to the sides, leaving open space from which a matte silver suit of armor emerged. “How about we get you in it so we can have a test flight? It’s not as simple as it looks. But then again, you are the pilot so maybe you’ll be natural at this too.”

“We’ll see. Do I need to change or…?”

“What you’re wearing is fine though maybe you should ditch the leather jacket.” Tasha smirked. “Unless you have a date you want to impress.”

Rhodey snorted. “We’ll talk about my potential dates when we start talking about yours.”

“Yeah that’s likely to happen. In you go.” She could very well understand the thrill that clearly showed on her best friend’s face as the armor closed around him, coming to life. “Welcome to War Machine armor, lt. colonel Rhodes.” JARVIS greeted the man when the suit powered up completely.

“JARVIS will be your co-pilot for a while until I finish yours.”

“Does it need an AI to function?”

“No, I could and have extensively programmed the suit to respond to your voice commands but I find it achieves peak efficiency with AI present.”

“Thank you ma’am.” Tasha laughed at the completely unhidden pleased tone her AI used. “It’s nice to know how easily you are flattered JARVIS. Check the air traffic control, weather conditions and then take Rhodey out for a spin. We data to work with.”

“At once ma’am.” She was in her new mark VI suit, flying beside him not long after. It was really interesting that she was showing him how to fly it, flying being something he had more experience with than Tasha but Rhodey was a fast learner and soon enough they were gliding over the west coast. “I got it.”

“What?”

“The name of the element. Thrarium.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Dunno…It’s just a word I came up with. I mean, let’s be real…all the words have been made up so people could communicate. So why not?”

“Well it’s definitely improvement from badassium.”

“Jerk. But I will definitely patent it. This stuff could be really fucking dangerous in wrong hands.”

“I support that. So, this one’s mine?” Like a kid on Christmas. “Yes, it’s yours. Though I did have some paperwork done regarding it. Just in case the government tries to be smart and assign another pilot to it. I won’t have anyone but you using it.”

“Got it.”

“I’ll have a lawyer explain every detail of it to you, just so you’re informed. I still have some protocols to upload but it is ready to be used.”

“Will I need a notebook for all of them?”

“No, smartass, you won’t. I’m pretty sure there’s some space in that big brain of your next to regulations for the protocols.”

“Well I-” “Pardon for the interruption colonel. Ma’am, there has been an attempt of access to mansion’s mainframe.”

“Was it her?”

“Affirmative.”

“Hmm, five days. That took longer than I expected.”

“Tasha what is going on?” Rhodey was confused by the easy going attitude she had towards the fact that someone tried to hack her private network.

“My PA is not really mine. JARVIS, why don’t you introduce her?”

“Certainly ma’am. Natalie Rushman is a cover identity of a S.H.I.E.L.D.  agent Natasha Romanoff, born November 22, 1984 in Stalingrad, Russia. Former KGB agent, she had been instructed to infiltrate Stark Industries seven months ago and get as close to ma’am as possible by director Nicholas Fury. Her operational history is…quite colorful.”

“She’s an assassin JARVIS. You’re allowed to say that, you know.”

“And you’re just letting her snoop around?”

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Is that not how the saying goes? Besides, I want to know what she is specifically after. Besides, it’s not like she will actually get something. After Nicky’s visit, I upgraded security in such manner they would need some serious genius to crack through the encryption and multiple firewalls. I also upgraded shielding for possible EMP.”

“I would call you paranoid but considering everything, good call.”

“Thanks. Miss Rushman however will think she did get something. I had JARVIS create some space that would seem like she managed to hack in and download the specs for new media player, heart monitor or some other common place electronic device.”

Rhodey was impressed. “That’s actually quite devious Tasha.”

“Yes well, I tend to have my moments. And when I find out what they want, she’s out, even if I have to use my suit for it. The very idea that I have an assassin posing as PA in the same house as my daughter makes me sick.”

“Why don’t turn around and go back to the mansion? I’m starving.”

“Good idea Rhodey. I could use some pizza.”

***

Sixteen days. That is how long she managed to tolerate an assassin/spy in her midst. Also, it turned out she had a nemesis straight out of the drama novels. Son of the man Howard had gotten deported from good old US on the grounds of espionage had come to claim his revenge on Tasha in the middle of Grand Prix of Monaco.

It was so cliché that she could not help but to laugh afterwards in the confines of her workshop when JARVIS laid out all the available facts to her. Including how he managed to make a replica of an arc reactor which was operable but faulty as it lacked the refinements Tasha developed. Suffice to say she destroyed the Whiplash armor as media quickly dubbed it, less the SHIELD or any other interested party would put their grabby hands on it and try to learn how it worked.

She had to do some PR per Pepper’s suggestion to dispel the ideas stoked by senator Stern that she lied about how close some people are to identically replicating the arc reactor and the Iron Woman armor but otherwise she kept low profile. It also helped that Rhodey was now in the playing field as War Machine even if the top brass was less than happy by the strict contract her lawyers gave them which ensure that no one else would pilot the armor and all maintenance would be done by her.

Now Tasha was patiently waiting in a corner booth of Luna’s café for the young Celeste to bring her takeout lunch order. Ever since the place opened four years ago, it had become common place to occasionally spot Tasha either eating or waiting for the takeout. It was conveniently close to her mansion and food was good. She was also waiting to see if her little slip of the tongue from yesterday would yield the result she anticipated. After JARVIS had informed her that her PA yet again tried to access her personal server in order to download information about Iron Woman suit, Tasha hinted in her typical obnoxious manner she learned to use to mislead people that she was not doing too well.

Lo and behold, ten minutes into her waiting, one Nick Fury decked out in all black outfit slipped into her booth. With over the top sigh, Tasha rested her chin in her right hand and looked at the man. “I have already told you that I have no desire whatsoever to be part of your super secret band.”

“No, no, no. See, I remember, you do everything yourself. How’s that working out for you?”

“It’s working out just fine. Working hours are weird but then again, the last period of time I had semi normal sleeping cycles was when Elaine was a preschooler. What are you doing here? Are you even here or am I having one of my hallucinations due to shortage of sleep?”

“I am very real. I’m the realest person you’re ever gonna meet.”

Tasha looked around the café. “Where is the staff? I hope you didn’t hurt them because that would not make me a happy camper.” ‘Ma’am, agent Romanoff has entered the main area.’ JARVIS spoke in her ear.

“We’ve secured the perimeter but I don’t think we should hold it for too much longer.” Her now very former PA vocalized her presence.

“You’re so spectacularly fired.”

“That’s not up to you.” The redhead actually had the nerve to smile, sitting down next to Fury who looked very pleased with himself and his agent.

“Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff.”

“Hi.” Tasha did not spare on the amount of sarcasm she poured into the greeting.

“I’m a SHIELD shadow. Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury.”

“I suggest you apologize.”

“You’ve been very busy. You made your girl your CEO; you’re giving away all your stuff. You let your best friend fly away with your suit. Now, if I didn’t know better…”

“You don’t know better. First off, what kind of spies are you if you failed to spy the contract that I have given Rhodey regarding the armor I had made specifically for him. He did not just fly away with it as you say. Second, I’d like to know how you even came by the information that I was ill. And third, I am not a top of the line, ultra computer therefore I am actually not capable to perform twelve different actions at once. So what exactly do you want from me?”

“What do we want from you? What do you want from me?” Romanoff got up and left. “You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the centre of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with.”

“This begs the question as to why you are here.” ‘Ma’am, agent Romanoff appears to be carrying an injection unit with unknown content.’

In a blink, Tasha’s hand was moving, knocking the injection out of Romanoff’s hand much to the surprise of both her and Fury. “Next time, I will shoot your hand off with my repulsor, agent Romanoff.”

“That would have helped your symptoms Stark.”

“Symptoms? How you people manage to get anything done without being detected is beyond me. Listen to me buddy, I do not have any illnesses nor am I dying. I had that figured weeks ago. No, I just wanted to see how quick you’re gonna show up after I confide to my PA that I am not all that well. And here you are.”

Now they were both frowning. “That’s impossible.” Romanoff stated confidently but her green eyes did not tell the same story. “Oh it is agent Romanoff. Or is it Romanova? Which do you prefer?”

“What the fuck Stark?!” Fury barked, obviously he did not like it when people turned tables on him so blatantly and Romanoff looked very alarmed. “You might want to tell your programmers to _shield_ data recall better. Also, she simply felt…off.”

Tasha leaned forward, getting into his face as he did to her not two minutes ago. “Listen to me Nicky boy. I don’t place the same value on my life as my friends do but I do value my daughter’s life more than anything else on this planet. And you jeopardized her life by breaking into my home just so you can have a night chat with me. Did you think I wouldn’t take precautions after I told you ‘no’ the first time? Fuck you and your shadow creeping, backstabbing ways. I would have sent my godmother after you, had I felt petty enough. Here’s what’s going to happen. You and your little shadow here are going to stay away from me as far as possible.”

“Or what?”

“Or I will plaster agent Romanoff’s face all over the internet along with accusation of being a professional impostor and corporate espionage. For starters. If you do not, believe me, I will find time in my busy schedule to work on dismantling your entire organization. It would take time but I would do it.”

The three of them held a staring contest for a full minute before they got up. Romanoff marched away in silence while Fury looked somewhat impressed and pissed off at the same time. “You are a real piece of work Stark.”

“I have been informed it’s genetic.” Tasha replied coldly, raising an eyebrow when two men in black dropped off a grey medium sized grey trunk. “The hell is that?”

“Some stuff Howard left. Thought it would help you figure out solution to it seems already solved problem.”

“So why don’t you just take it back? I’m sure you have scientists who would salivate on his stuff.”

“They most surely would. Except they don’t speak Stark language.” That actually made her laugh. “I suppose there is some truth in that.” Without another word, Nick Fury left the café.

At almost exact time, Celeste finally appeared with her lunch takeout. “I am so sorry Miss Stark, these people-”

“It’s alright Celeste; they are a thorn in my side. And they won’t be coming back.” Tasha tossed good number of bills on the table. “Here’s the tip and extra for the customers they kept away.”

“Thank you miss Stark.”

“It’s Tasha.” She replied, putting on her sunglasses and picking up the bags. “It’s nothing really.”

She finally relaxed when she settled behind the wheel of her Audi. “JARVIS?”

“Yes ma’am?”

“Notify HR that miss Rushman’s contract is to be terminated immediately, revoke her access to the mansion and every SI facility and start sifting through the candidates Pepper had originally put together. I really do need an effective PA.”

“At once ma’am.”

“Okay.” Tasha took couple of deep breaths or anyway as deep as they could be for her, before she started the engine and took off in the direction of Elaine’s school. One problem solved.

***

The clock said it was four minutes before five am. And her phone was ringing. “I swear to all that’s holy JARVIS, put it to voicemail or else…I have actually reached the point in my life where I enjoy longer sleeping periods.”

“Ma’am, I believe you want to take this call.”

Her eyes opened, staring at the ceiling. “Why?”

“Mr. Brendan Quinn is calling you on an encrypted line you provided him with.”

Now she was awake and sitting up. “Put him through.” It’s been six months since I restarted the expedition, she thought, they couldn’t have possibly had…

“Miss Stark.”

“Mister Quinn. It’s five in the morning.”

“I believe your instructions were to call you immediately if results were acquired regardless of the time.”

“And?”

“We found him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, I played with the timeline a lot here. Also, I am saving Hammer and Vanko for later date use because I can and because I think they could have utuilized those two characters slightly better than they did in IM2.


	7. Chapter 7

Though summer on the Arctic meant almost twenty four hours of sunlight, this was not the case should clouds appear, bringing a snow storm with them. It also didn’t help that the landscape continuously changed. Nevertheless, it was not as bad as Tasha expected when she arrived. After checking that no one has indeed picked up on her early morning call, Tasha had arranged with J.A.R.V.I.S. to send a message to Shani around eight in the morning to check on Elaine once her daughter was up but since it was Saturday, there was no chance in hell Elaine would be out of bed before noon; packed a bag with climate appropriate clothes and left.

Some would call it ridiculous and paranoid that she took extra precaution of not being followed but considering that S.H.I.E.L.D. still did not understand that ‘no’ actually means ‘no’ and J.A.R.V.I.S. had detected an attempt of firewall breach to company’s main servers not even two hours after her little meeting with Fury, Tasha felt fully justified in her actions. The wind had a bite to it but it hardly mattered to her the moment her eyes settled on the large section of what was most certainly a wing poking out of the ice.

“Miss Stark!”

“Mr. Quinn. Any progress?”

“We have finally managed to cut him out of all that ice after taking a detailed scan of course. Wouldn’t want the drill to cut through him by accident.” The graying man opened the door of the large mobile complex raised not far from the entry point. “He is still in a block of ice but it is far easier to maneuver with.”

The expedition members paid her only a moment of attention before turning back to their work. Equipment was being checked over, pushed into right spots and mounted monitors were full of streaming data. Tasha pushed down her hood, eyes zeroing in on the star of the hour. Almost in the dead centre of the complex module, a block of ice encapsulating Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America; stood in currently empty tank. “We will pump the solution into the tank in about ten minutes when it is ready. Dr. Strauss wanted to check it again before it was used.”

“It’s fine Mr. Quinn, big block of ice won’t melt quickly in these conditions. And I respect the need for caution.”

“Will you be staying for the duration of it?”

“Yes and I promise to not bother people very much.”

“You are the one paying for all this. Bother as much as you like.”

Tasha nodded, setting down her bag in a corner where it wouldn’t be in anyone’s way. “True enough but distraction is not productive. Plus, me being a genius does not translate into being all knowing.”

“Very well. I had the station for you set up here as you requested.” Mr. Quinn waved in the general area of it. “Will you be going to the plane?”

“I was planning to do it later. Was there anything else of significance found?”

“Captain Rogers’s shield which we have also placed in a smaller until to thaw out. Also we have found four bombs. They are in pristine condition and more than likely fully functional should they be unfrozen. What do you want to do with them?”

“I’ll have a look, disarm and destroy them. The last thing world needs is Nazi bombs of unknown yield. I was thinking that we take 3D scans of the plane before destroying that too.  Once the word gets out, there will be too many nosy people wanting to take a look at it.”

“I quite agree miss. Though I assume you wish to keep this quiet for as long as possible.”

“Indeed. The man deserves at least the dignity of being thawed out properly and his body taken care off before the vultures start demanding proof, preferably pictures.”

“Mr. Quinn.” Forty something short brunette of alarmingly thin frame appeared at their side, doing double take upon realizing Tasha’s presence. “Oh, Miss Stark, good evening. I am Diana Strauss.”

“Good to meet you doctor Strauss. You ready to start thawing out captain Rogers?”

“Yes, I have checked the solution to make sure he doesn’t thaw out rapidly and we are ready to proceed.”

Tasha shrugged. “By all means doctor. I may at the top of the expedition but you are the experts in this area.” Doctor Strauss nodded, turning to three junior scientists waiting behind her. “Begin.”

Meanwhile Tasha settled at her dedicated station, contacting J.A.R.V.I.S. the moment link was established. “You getting all this buddy?”

“I am indeed connected to the monitoring equipment.”

“Good. And please encrypt this to the nines.”

“Yes ma’am. May I suggest you start working on the bombs ma’am? It is highly unlikely than anything significant will occur during the thawing process.”

“I guess you’re right. I’d stir crazy just sitting here and stare at the tank to be honest.” It was almost freaky at how well her A.I. knew her. Almost. She stretched a bit when she got up before following Mr. Quinn’s directions for the bomb containment area. It was time to get her brain and fingers busy.

***

“Care to repeat that J.A.R.V.I.S.?”

“Based on the latest set of scans, it would appear that captain Rogers is in fact in a state of cryogenic suspension.”

Tasha stepped away from the control console of the frozen plane, the 3D scanner still working behind her back; and let a long breath leave her lips, eyes unfocused for a moment. Could life seriously stop fucking with me already, she thought. “Are you sure?”

“I have analyzed all twenty hours of data. All the indicators available lead to same conclusion. Captain Rogers is alive.” It was rare to hear wonder in the voice of her A.I. “Therefore I suggest you return to the complex ma’am. The team would like to know how to proceed.”

“Yeah, yeah….I’m coming. We have an actual doctor on the expedition team right?”

“Yes ma’am. Per your instructions, a medical team has been assigned to the expedition in case of medical emergencies. Doctor Roberta Ingram is in charge.”

“Cookie for me for covering all the bases I guess.  Get Doctor Ingram up to speed and ask for her opinion how to proceed. We are no longer thawing out a body.”

“Yes ma’am.”

It didn’t take long to climb out of the plane and return to the complex. Tasha noticed immediately upon entering the shift in atmosphere. People had been excited that their search had actually yielded results but now some of them looked downright ecstatic that the man they found was actually alive. Everything was abuzz with activity. “Mr. Quinn, this is quite the development.”

“That is an understatement miss Stark. Doctor Ingram should be here any moment now.”

“Good. Doctor Strauss, time estimate on when the process will be complete?”

“We will have to adjust for the fact that Captain Rogers is in fact alive, to ensure he thaws out correspondingly. If his extremities thaw out before his heart and lungs restart, they will be rendered useless. But based on the rate we have been going, I would say another two hours with gradual temperature increase before it is completed.”

“Well, I think-” “Miss Stark!”

“Ah, you must be doctor Ingram. Suggestions concerning the capsicle here?” The doctor did not show amusement at Tasha’s quip, serious business etched in every inch of her person. “It would be beneficial to introduce oxygen to the solution as quickly as possible. It would also be preferable if he were put on cardiopulmonary bypass and hyperbaric chamber but I realize we cannot obtain the equipment in time.”

“Well, I could improvise doctor. I am an engineer after all. Do we have-?” “Pardon for the intrusion ma’am.” J.A.R.V.IS. cut in. “The data suggests that captain Rogers’s body had started responding  slowly to the process several hours ago. I believe it could almost be described as bear coming out of hibernation. It would be beneficial to introduce oxygen as soon as possible.”

“Incredible.”

“Huh.” Tasha stared at the tank, “That cocktail he was shot with is far more useful than the original creator intended. Kudos to doctor Erskine. Doctor Ingram, I believe the patient requires your attention.”

The woman spared her no extra look but instead focused entirely on the super soldier, which was honestly fine with Tasha because she needed some time to think and breathe. “May I remind everyone to keep quiet about this? If it turns out that the man has a functioning brain, this will be shock of the century for him. The last thing he needs is pictures taken of him and people asking gazillion questions.”

“The discretion was part of our contracts Miss Stark.” Mr. Quinn pointed out. “And there is such thing as loyalty.”

“I just needed to reassert the need for it. I will return to the plan to get the scanner and conduct further study before making arrangements with demolition team that arrived recently.”

“Very well.”

She welcomed the bite of the wind when she stepped out again. It had rather sobering effect on her. The short walk to the plane was spent with her brain running through countless scenarios how to approach this whole thing once Rogers was in the clear and transported out of this ice bed. What the fuck am I doing?

***

Three days. After being thawed out, stabilized and transferred to Malibu, it took Steve Rogers three days to regain consciousness. Apparently, the moment his heart was pumping at full speed, the serum kicked in to heal multiple contusions and very likely concussion later scans revealed. Tasha had all the confidence of the expedition members keeping a secret but the selfish part of her was not willing to let Rogers out of her sight. Her mansion was secure, isolated and more than spacious for everything it was required to monitor the man’s vitals and brain activity. She was in the middle of designing mark VII armor when J.A.R.V.I.S. informed her that her guest was waking. “Duly noted. And J.A.R.V.I.S.?”

“Yes ma’am?”

“Don’t talk until I introduce you two. Unless it’s an emergency. The last thing I need is a super soldier made hole in the wall.”

“Acknowledged.”

The trek to the guest bedroom located at the far end of the hallway was slow but short one. When she came in, the super soldier was still unmoving aside from his chest rising and falling steadily. She dragged an armchair close to the bed, sat down and waited. Admittedly, watching a man from another time wake was in Tasha’s opinion borderline creepy, especially since they were strangers to each other but of course, her curiosity always seemed to win in the end. She waited for good ten minutes before noting slight twitch of his fingers which was soon followed by deep inhale and exhale. Overriding caution, because the man could easily snap her like twig, she rose and leaned forward to place gentle pressure on his right shoulder. “Don’t try to get up just yet. You had quite the tumble.” An understatement really.

“Where am I? It’s very warm.”

“You are in Malibu, California.” Second later, she was staring at a pair of very blue eyes that carried much confusion and surprise in them. “Peggy?”

Well if that wasn’t a proverbial slap in the face? “No, I’m afraid I’m not Peggy Carter.”

“Who are you?” Apparently he did not listen to the instructions well because he slowly sat up, taking in his surroundings. She supposed it was quite the sight. “What is this place?” It was a demand. There was no other way to define his tone and quickly stiffened posture.

“This is my mansion in Malibu, California. As to who I am…My name is Natasha Stark.”

“Stark?”

“I am Howard Stark’s daughter.”

If his name was not Steve Rogers, he would have probably passed out at the point of her admission. “What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to mention that I used some info for Steve's thawing that I found on Tubmlr: http://badscienceshenanigans.tumblr.com/post/91409472047/kbdownie-thegingermullet-did-they-ever


	8. Chapter 8

“I-I don’t understand.”

Well, she chose to have Steve Rogers wake up to 21st century in her mansion so giving a good, acceptable explanation was Tasha’s responsibility. “My home. You are in my home.”

It should probably be against the constitution for someone’s eyes to give off such confusion and utter loss that one would drop absolutely anything and come running to help however possible. His eyes just stared at her. It hurt just a bit. She has seen this look far too many times on Howard. And sometimes on Peggy. “What is the last thing you remember captain?”

“The plane…I had to put it in the water. I remember plane hitting the ice. Then it was…nothing.”

Natasha nodded. “You probably hit your head on the control panel hard that knocked you out. For a long time.”

“How long?”

“Sixty five years, five months and twenty two days.”

It felt very wrong to be in the front row of the man’s very visible yet restrained heartbreak to the point where she had the urge to just back away and walk out. Why in the name of sanity did she think she could handle this sort of shit? “How am I alive?”

“The serum. It’s the only explanation I have. Any other human being would have died on impact and if somehow they survived that, they would have drowned. Or froze. Whatever came first.”

Deep breath in and out. And there it was. That assessing look she was so used to be subjected to whenever people met her for the first time. “Howard’s daughter?”

It was very fortunate for her that she had learned to keep her face blank no matter how grating a subject was. “Yes. Natasha Stark.  And I said before you’re in my home.”

“Howard?

“Dead. For eleven years now.”

Silence. It was not something she did well with. She could take it in small doses or larger ones when in the company of someone she loved and trusted but those moments were rare. But this sort of silence was awkward and prompted her mind to take roads that quickly veered off into dark territories. “Aunt Peggy’s still alive though.”

“Aunt Peggy?”

“She’s my godmother.”

“Well…that puts things in perspective.” The corner of her mouth lifted. “Yes, I suppose so. Do you want to be left alone with your thoughts? Or would you like to eat something? You must be hungry, with your speedy metabolism. We’ve had you hooked up on fluids the moment you were completely defrosted but your stomach is going to hurt sooner or later.”

“We?”

“The recovery team I paid for.” Natasha stepped back as he finally swung his legs over, getting up easily as if he didn’t just reach consciousness after being frozen for almost seventy years. “To be honest, this is as much a surprise for me as it is for you. I was looking for a body, not living man.”

Steve nodded in voiceless agreement, making several steps forward before his stomach made quite the noisy growl. The small frown on his face spoke of his discomfort at his body’s reaction. Natasha flashed what she hoped was genuinely reassuring smile. “Food it is then.” She turned on her heels. “Follow me.”

He seemed hesitant, not that she blamed him, but did follow on slow pace. It was not a wild guess that he would be assessing his surroundings, truthfully she would do the same, and there was a very real feeling settling in her being that he could easily snap her without a moment’s notice. However they made it to the kitchen area without incident so Natasha figured some credible fragment of honesty registered with him. “Sit wherever you like.”

He did not sit down. He just stopped at kitchen island and eyed the large area around him, everything really before his eyes stopped at small pile of newspapers on it. “What is this?”

“I thought some sort of physical representation of time might be useful for you. May have went a little overboard with the various papers.”

If she had blinked, she would have missed the tiny quirk of his lips as he looked at her then at the fourteen different newspapers issues. To be honest, how was she supposed to know how many papers would satisfy his curiosity? She had read from the notes in Howard’s folder that Steve Rogers was smart and post serum his intelligence was heightened to the peak but she could not very well just shove a tablet in his hand and send him on his merry way with ‘Have fun catching up to the 21st century’. “Metrolink offers $200-million settlement in Chatsworth rail disaster.”

“Um…that’s probably not the most positive thing to use as a starting catch up point.”

“Frankly none of these front line stories sound positive.”

One blink. Two blinks. “Yeah, I got nothing, world is still a shitty place.”

“Well at least something’s the same.” Steve tilted his head. “But it’s better than it was before I went under, right?”

Well now? Was it better? Natasha was quite certain that World War II ending six months after he crashed is a big plus in Steve Rogers’s book but she doubted the things America had been doing for the past several decades would be something he considered as positive things. But then there were all the medical and technical discoveries. “Yes, I believe it is better in some ways. Though I think you will be the best judge of that once you catch up.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“We’ll see.” Natasha opened the refrigerator. “How does chicken and pasta sound? I am no five star chef but I have been assured multiple times that my cooking is quite edible.”

“Sounds expensive.” The somewhat quiet answer with tone that clearly indicated Steve rolling back to past had Natasha quickly sifting through the facts she had been absorbing for the last two days. And yes, he was right. Chicken was more expensive than beef during the war. “Alright…How about meatballs then? They go along great with pasta in tomato sauce. And they are not a spicy assault on your tongue and stomach.”

“It’s fine. I’m gonna go  out on a limb and guess I can’t exactly go out and get something.”

Natasha shrugged, putting various ingredients on the counter. “You’re not my prisoner Rogers. You can go out any time you like. I would prefer though for you not to go outside before you catch to 21st century. I mean random people you would pass by may not recognize you but they are not the ones that worry me.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that there are certain people who would love to get their hands on disoriented super soldier from World War II. Primarily to get your blood.”

There was that judging head tilt again. Steve Rogers apparently either had very little idea on how to be subtle whilst reading people or he judged that being alone with her did not require much alert, probably guessing that he could take her out quickly if need be. “And you? Do you want my blood?”

“No. As I said before, I was looking for a body. Not a living person. Some samples were taken in order to assess your condition better but they were destroyed afterwards. I made sure.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“I’m sure you’re smart as Howard was.” She gripped the knife a little tighter. “Given half a chance, he probably would have figured out how to make more back then, had we not been pressed by war.”

“Let’s get one thing straight Rogers.” There was absolutely no intention on her part to let her long time bottled anger to rise to the surface but apparently she was not as good as controlling that with Steve around. Idiot. She should have called Rhodey or Shani to get their asses to the mansion. “I am not Howard. I will never be Howard Stark. Learn to differentiate from now on. Or I can’t promise to be very nice.”

“Alright.”

“Alright?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Deep breath in and out. “You’re unique Rogers. I must have read what remained of Erskine’s small numbered notes a hundred times. Even if I did try and recreate the serum, finding someone like you to use it on would be difficult. Not to mention that the very idea of more than one super soldier running around the world makes me less than comfortable.”

There was that damn head tilt again, and damn it she wanted to throw the pan she was currently heating up at him. “Isn’t that a bit too much meat for two people?” Steve had sort of a concerned frown on his face. “It’s just the right amount for three people.”

“Oh.”

“Relax capsicle.” Deeper frown. Someone wasn’t a fan of nicknames. Too bad, Natasha thought. She had quite the selection ready to use. “I don’t live alone. My daughter Elaine is currently over at her friend’s but she’ll be back in time for late lunch.”

“Daughter?”

“What’s with one word sentences?”

And then there was that quirk of the mouth again. “Sorry. Just taking time process all of this.”

“I suppose that’s fair enough.”

Steve shifted a bit in his seat. “Can you tell me more about Peggy?” Natasha would have sighed really but the question was expected. Peggy would have been part of the lengthy conversation sooner or later. “What would you like to know?”

“Anything really.”

“Well…she’s doing quite well for her 89 years. She’s currently living in a nursing home in DC. I mean she has family but they can’t constantly be around her. Uh, was a field agent and then director for short time of an agency that technically doesn’t exist. Don’t ask, I get headaches just thinking about that. We go and see her whenever we get the chance but I don’t talk with much of her family. Her great niece Sharon is the only one.” Natasha shrugged. “Let’s just say Howard didn’t leave much of an impression and they were very much inclined to believe that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Ridiculous really because I spent good amount of time when I was a kid with Sharon at Aunt Peggy’s place.”

“So she was  happy?”

“Yes capsicle, she was. It wasn’t easy, I’m told you don’t get over a great love in a week but she eventually got there.”

“Why do you call me that?”

“Popsicle…capsicle. Both frozen over.”

“That’s…terrible nickname.”

Natasha shrugged. “No one ever said I had best of tacts or bed side manners.”

“D’you think I’ll be able to see her?”

“Once you get acclimated to your new time, sure. But I’ll have to tell her first, can’t just drop you there. I’d really not like for her to have a heart attack or think she’d become delusional.”

Steve nodded. “That makes sense. Is that a coffee maker?” Natasha looked over her shoulder where only inch of coffee was lying in the coffeepot.

“Yeah. I may have tinkered with it a bit.”

“Why?”

“It was driving me nuts, okay? I’m a mechanic, I fix things and upgrade them.”

“Fair enough. Can I have a cup please?”

“How about you eat this first then slosh your stomach with coffee, yeah? It’s almost done.” Somewhere James Rhodes was probably having a fit of laughter because Natasha Stark just warned someone against drinking coffee on an empty stomach when she herself regarded is as best go to breakfast and more often than not acted like a mindless drone if not having one in the morning upon waking up. Way to be a hypocrite right off the bat, she thought.

“Okay.” Steve nodded. “So what exactly happened when I crashed? I mean I can be sure in assuming we won but how did that happen? How long did the war last for afterwards? What about Howling Commandos?”

“Whoa there, capsicle, one question at the time. Let’s see…the war ended six months after you crashed when the Japanese officially surrendered. Admittedly though, the way our government decided to deal with them is less than stellar, in fact it’s appalling.”

“Wait what?”

Leaving the meatballs in sauce to simmer, Natasha reached for the tablet she left on another counter and turned on the screen. She’s pretty sure that after their history class, he won’t be needing instructions in how to use a tablet. “Let’s go back to the date after you disappeared. Context is important. Now…”

***

He was not sleeping even though he probably should. But he couldn’t. Every time he closed his eyes, he was in ice again or seconds before that. And when that was no haunting his mind than everything else was. Though Natasha was somewhat tactless when conveying information, she did not just unload all of the information at once. No…for the last two weeks, he had slowly been given information and time to process them, which he tried to do whilst trying to let his anger out on punching bags she had put in his room. His room that was bigger than some people’s apartments.

Bucky was dead. The Commandos were dead. Howard was dead. The only one left was Peggy. And he was…unexpectedly alive. It still stung in a way when he remembered Natasha’s admission that she was looking for his body and not him as a living person. But he could not blame her. After sixty five years, why should she have expected to find him alive? Hell, he went down with the belief he was going to die. Yet here he was. Walking around the mansion at three in the morning with nothing but his own haunting thoughts and memory for company.  Though aware that the rooms were soundproofed he still made sure not to make any noise that  might wake Natasha’s daughter Elaine.

Therein lay his distraction. Natasha Stark. She was a mystery and bundle of conflicting signals and behaviors. It was next to impossible to get a good read on her, always keeping him guessing as to whether she was completely honest or wrapping her words in a dozen different subtexts and misdirection. The only time he was certain she was completely honest as when she talked about anything related to technology, upon which he observed her eyes would light up with excitement of great proportions; and more history.

She also had absolutely no problem with googling herself. What an odd word that is. But he had found internet to be extremely helpful. The very idea of any information being available in a matter of seconds was wild one. Welcome one though. The media as Steve had discovered, could not settle on Natasha’s character either. Some criticized every move she made, other were not far from idolatry. The Iron Woman. Now that surprised him. Even though he read everything that was available and what little Natasha told, Steve still did not know where to place Iron Woman when it came to seeing Natasha as a person. She was an excellent mother to her daughter even though he could see she questioned her every action. “It’s not like I have something to measure it against Steve.” Never certain whether she was smothering Elaine with attention and love or not giving her enough.

Now Steve had come to like Howard Stark back in the past but he never actually thought the man would be a good parent. He just didn’t. And the mess that was living behind numerous walls created out of sheer necessity to survive was definitely the proof. He snapped out his thoughts as he came to a stop before a room that during the day bathed in sunlight. It was Elaine’s studio. From floor to ceiling, wall to wall, everything was full of paper, canvas, paints, brushes and other art related supplies. The thirteen year old certainly had a knack for it. She was a bright, happy teenager who loved her mother and had endless amount of questions for him. Just like Natasha, Elaine too was a direct speaker but applied more tact to her curiosity, quickly skirting off a certain topic if she caught on his discomfort.

For the last couple of days, when he wasn’t learning 21st century, punching his bag or walking, Steve found himself sketching in the studio. First time he just grabbed what he found but second time there was an armchair, a sketchbook and various sketching supplies waiting for him. Nothing was said out loud yet everything was said nonetheless. There was barely ever chatter while they were sketching/painting. Just some low volume music playing, As opposed to the downstairs. Downstairs was completely different side of the story.

He had been down in Natasha’s workshop several times now and he had been amazed every time so far. The music was almost always cranked up, everything was screaming functional mess, the line of expensive cars that were just waiting to be taken for a ride in the corner close to the exit. It was amazing. And Steve felt like the truest he would ever see Natasha Stark to be. Right there in her workshop, working on several different projects and marveling on every new thing she would discover with the glee of a child.

His favorite moment in the workshop so far had been to just sit and watch her working on Iron Woman armor. The amount of concentration dedicated to each detail. The amount of scenarios she was discussing with J.A.R.V.I.S. He was freaked out at first, reasonably Natasha pointed out, when J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke for the first time. He was still trying to wrap his head around the AI even being real. The idea of it wasn’t shocking as much that Natasha actually made it reality. Iron Woman armor, he had realized, was something that came out of pure survival necessity that turned into something much more. J.A.R.V.I.S. and the bots however were something Natasha was extremely proud and happy about because they were result of curiosity, delight and awe of what can be accomplished.

 “You should be sleeping.” He almost jumped. Almost. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Natasha standing in the hallway, looking at him curiously. Though wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, he could still see the outline of her figure and the now dull shine of the arc reactor.

 Though still unsure how to categorize Natasha, honestly he was starting to wonder if that was even possible, Steve respected and admitted the willpower she had for enduring the pain every day that came with arc reactor. Upon being told what he suspected was heavily redacted story, he found himself understanding her a little better. It was relatable honestly, he could still remember the pain that accompanied his breaths back before the serum. He would never wish it upon anyone. He imagined it was even worse for her because she had an actual object in her chest that kept her alive yet caused her pain. “So should you.”

“I just finished working on MK-VI suit and outlined some ideas for MK-VII. Wasn’t expecting to find you here.” Well he could tell the last part was a lie. In fact he knew that she knew of his early morning mansion walkabouts. She just opted not to say anything about it.

“Can’t sleep.”

“Well that’s actually pretty relatable capsicle.” The nicknames and slightly biting, somewhat insulting words she’d throw out sometimes were a characteristic Steve found both endearing and annoying, depending on the timing and mood. “Wanna watch a movie? We can start your ‘catch up to 21st century’ movie portion.”

Steve shrugged. Anything really to escape his specific brand of hellish nightmares.  “Sounds fun.”

“Alright. Come on. J.A.R.V.I.S. any recommendation on where to start with movie class?”

“May I suggest ‘It’s a wonderful life’ ma’am?”

“That’s a Christmas movie, J.A.R.V.I.S.” Natasha mumbled, rummaging through the freezer. “While that is true, it was released in 1946.”

“I’m fine with a Christmas movie.”

“Okay then. Queue it up and be ready to play.”

Steve sat down on the very big sofa in the living room, fingers fidgeting from not having work to do. In a blink Natasha was sitting down next to him and holding out something. It was an ice cream pint and a spoon. He had tried the various flavors that were stored in the freezer but apparently she had noticed that he had been quite partial to butter pecan ice cream. “It’s not a popsicle but I think it’s actually far better option.”

“Thank you.”

“Not a problem, old timer. Can’t keep eating all these by myself.” Natasha leaned back. “Lights out and play please.”

The lights went out as ordered and within seconds, Steve was watching a Christmas movie from 1946 with Natasha Stark while eating ice cream. Maybe, just maybe the future was not as doom and gloom as it seemed to be. And perhaps, he might get a decent sleep afterwards.


End file.
